From Russia with Hate
by Daphnae
Summary: Castiel is the town bad boy. Rarely does he care about anything, especially other people. Aria is the new girl, but her tough exterior hides more than you think. Her past haunts her every step, and controls her every move. Being the bad boy, Castiel targets Aria, far from knowing what he's getting into. Will the bad boy fall in love, and will the runaway finally stop running?
1. New Apartment

Amoris. A tiny little town on the southern coast of Oregon. The closest I had ever dared get to this side of the States. Russia was only a hop, skip and a jump from Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Which is why I had never dared get close. I'm not scared of Russia, but of who was there. He lived there, and I couldn't let him find me. No matter what, that was my goal. Not to be found. Hopefully this little town could hide me, at least for a little while.


	2. First Day of School, First Day of School

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

I slammed my fist down on the alarm clock. Sitting up I looked at the clock. 6:30. Time to get up, I needed to be at my new school by 7:30 so I could get set up and maybe a look around the school if I was lucky. I gasped as I pulled back the covers, letting the cold air wash over my heated skin. Goose bumps rising on my arms I walked over to my bathroom. After using it and brushing my teeth I headed to the closet. What to wear what to wear… I bit my lip, trying to decide on a suitable outfit for my first day. I decided on a pair of grey skinny jeans and a purple Vintage Corpse (my favorite band) t-shirt. Pulling on my favorite black and purple striped hoodie, I walked to my living room. It was bare, except for the furniture. No pictures covered the walls; I didn't see the point, not when I was going to be leaving in just a few months. Probably around Christmas I would disappear, to some other unknown corner of the U.S, trying to stay hidden. Plus, I had no friends to take pictures of, so I guess it didn't really matter. I was never good at making friends, I didn't trust people enough. After spending years on the run, always looking over your shoulder, trust doesn't come easily. I grabbed my backpack and keys and headed for the door. With one last glance at the clock I ran out the door, dreading my first day at Sweet Amoris High.

I drove about 15 minutes before I found the school. Getting out of my Camri, I looked at the school. Five stories or so, rather plain looking on the outside. I walked through the gates, into the deserted courtyard. Not a soul in sight. I walked inside quickly, being out in the open for too long was a bad idea. As soon as I opened the doors, I ran into a little pink cotton ball. Or at least that's what I thought it was. I looked down, not knowing what to expect. A little old lady with grey hair and glasses certainly wasn't it though.

"Oh excuse me I'm sorry I was-"

"Young lady just what do you think you're doing here?! The school does not open to students until 7 am!"

"Well I said I was sorry. Sheesh. I'm new. I was told to come to school early to get some paperwork completed?"

The little lady's face did a 180. She went from turning people to ashes to looking like a grandmother who liked to pinch 2 year-olds cheeks. She said, in a much perkier and lighter tone I might add,

"Oh my gracious I'm so sorry you must be Ms. Ariana Summers. Well dear I don't have your paperwork on me, that would just be silly! Go down this hallway turn right, continue down the hallway, turn right again, go up the stairs proceed down the hallway until you get to the third door on the right. Go through there, go all the way to the end, and turn left. Then go down the stairs and turn right. After you go down the length of that hallway, turn left. The fourth door on the left should have another hall through it. Proceed down there and the Student Council room is in room 148 on the left hand side. Nathaniel will help you. Now I must be on my way good bye dearie have a good first day here at Sweet Amoris!"

"Hey wait can you-"

She walked away before I could ask her to write it down. How the hell was I supposed to remember all that?! Typical high school. I erased any and all positive thoughts about Sweet Amoris High. With a sigh I started down the hallway. After about 2 or 3 hours, I admitted to being completely lost. I hated being lost. It meant I was at the mercy of my surroundings, if I had to make a run for it I was at an extreme disadvantage not knowing where I was. While studying the dark cloud of misery that seemed to follow me around I ran smack into a wall. Scratch that, a tall, blonde, wall. A tall, blonde, angelically handsome wall with gorgeous amber eyes. I bent down to help him pick up his 1000 and 1 papers.

"You should be more careful, and watch where you're going."

I stared at him. I could not believe this guy. I accidentally run into him and suddenly I'm a klutz and at fault. Uh, no. No. That just doesn't work for me. Sorry.

"Well excuse me! Sorry! It's not like I _meant_ to run into you! Damn man loosen up!" He frowned at me.

"I will request you not use profanity on campus Ms.?"

I glared at him. This guy must have had someone shove a tampon up his ass or something. Either that, or he was on his meriod. (That's a man period for those who don't know). I had never been one for blondes.

"Aria." I put as much venom as I could into the word, waiting to see him cringe. To my surprise however, his frown faded and was replaced with a smile. It was dazzling. Probably sent girls to their knees. But not me. I didn't like guys like him. Too damn serious all the time. I handed him the last of his papers, and turned to walk away.

"Hey wait! I'm Nathaniel by the way. If you're Ariana, the new student, I have some paperwork I need you to finish up. The student council room is right behind you,"

I turned to look. Sure enough, there it was, printed in big flowing gold script. I mentally kicked myself. How in the hell did I miss that?! With a sigh I pushed open the door, Nathaniel right behind me. He shut the door and set his papers down on the nearest table. I walked over to the door and opened it. Nathan or whatever his name was arched an eyebrow in question. I just looked at him, daring him to say something.

"Well? You said there was some stuff I still needed, do you know where it is or no?" He blushed slightly, embarrassed at my blunt interrogation. Good, it'll be easy to stay on his bad side then. I never had friends. Only enemies. It was easier that way. I had to trust no one, and no one missed me or thought anything of me when I was gone. And this place wasn't going to be any different. Nate spoke, crashing my train of thought.

"Well I can't seem to find one of your papers, but other than that you still need a photo id and your enrollment fee."

"What do you mean I'm missing a paper? I checked everything myself!"

"Look, there's no need to shout ok? I probably just slipped it in with another stack of papers, I apologize. You go get your photo taken and I'll look for that paper."

"Ok fine. Whatever." I stalked out of the room without another word. I walked back to the courtyard. Classes had already begun, so there was no one around. Scratch that, there was some kind of cherry head over by the tree. I noticed a Winged Skulls t-shirt and turned to avoid him. Vintage Corpse and Winged Skulls were the biggest debate since Edward and Jacob. The bands had similar music, and the fan bases were insane about which band was better. It was all leading up to the NRMC, National Rock Music Competition, where it would finally be decided which band was better. But that's beside the point. I'm kinda busy trying to avoid Cherry Head over there, but he's standing right next to the gates, and I need to get through there. I sighed and started over. He looked up and noticed my shirt. With a grimacing smirk he pulled his earphones out. The nearer I went, the more I noticed how good looking he was. I mean this guy was HOT. Then I reminded myself _Aria, don't even think that way. You cannot afford to get attached to anyone however loosely. It doesn't matter how cute he is, he's trouble. You can tell by the way he's standing, how he looks at you, and if that's not enough he's a Winged Skulls fan. If that doesn't scream DISQUALIFIED I don't know what does!_

I held my breath as I walked past him, praying to any god that existed that he's leave me alone. Much to my relief he did. But the unnerving part was after I walked past him. I could feel his gaze burning a hole in my back. Or at least, I preferred to think that was where he was looking…


	3. New School, New Problems

I walked into the dollar shop down the street. I smiled as the door sounded, I couldn't help it. Not much amuses me but when your doorbell screams "Honey, I'm home!" every time you open it, its rather amusing. I walked farther into the shop, towards the counter.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Miss I'm-Aria-from-big-city-somewhere-in-Minnesota-who' s-here-to-buy-paint-to-paint-my-boring-room!"

He nearly got a smile. That made me frown. I could not afford to appear amiable in any way. That made friends, and friends made relationships, and relationships attracted attention, and attention attracted… _him_. I left those depressing thoughts at the door, having no desire to keep them.

"Hi Mr. Geraldi, how are you?"

"Well Aria I was just fine until you walked in and started that Mr. Geraldi shit. My name is Louis, I was sure a bright girl like you had caught on to that when we met yesterday. Apparently not." He said with a wink. It earned him an eye roll, which I got in return. I asked if he took pictures for IDs.

"Well I have to now don't I? With all these trouble making bastards coming to go to school I have to. Come on follow me." (Just a hint in case you haven't figured it out yet, Mr. Geraldi has no problem saying exactly what he's thinking) He led me to a small room in the back, with a black curtain on the wall, and a stool in front of it. I sat on the stool as instructed and smiled, waiting for him to take the picture. I blinked a couple times after the flash and followed him to go get the id print out.

"Is that really me on there?"

My answer was only a laugh. I thanked him grudgingly and walked back to the school. Cherry Head was nowhere to be found. I sighed in relief, I was glad I wouldn't have to deal with a Winged Skulls idiot on my first day. After an hour, I found the Student council room again. Walking in I saw Nathaniel, all but right where I left him. By that time I'm afraid I was in a bad mood again, having been lost yet again.

"Good, you're back. Alright I found your papers, so now all you need to do is take them to the principle and you'll be all set."

"Why do I have to take them to her? That seems like a Student Body President job to me." Seeing his frown I added, "Fine. Whatever. Give me the file then." I snatched the file from his hands, trying to keep from laughing at his shocked expression. I stormed out of the hall and smack into the principle. She glared at me before realizing it was me. I hoped I radiated hatred. Apparently I didn't because she just smiled at me and the papers I was holding. I was about to hand them to her when she shook her head, "I don't want a bunch of loose papers darling. Find a paper clip then come find me again."

I made a face at her retreating figure. Hey, don't judge me! I tried to keep my temper in check as I went searching for a paper clip. After interrupting 3 classes I finally found a teacher with paperclips. I wondered the halls, looking for the principle and wondering why in the hell no one had any paperclips except for that one teacher. While pondering the insanities of moving to a new town, I ran smack into another wall. Only this one had crimson hair, stormy grey eyes filled with anger, was about 7 inches taller than me (and that's sayin' something, I'm 5'7!), and was made of iron instead of sheet rock. He glared down at me, (I had fallen to the floor of course) then smirked.

"You must be the new girl." Naw, ya don't say. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Idiot. Double idiot for being a Winged Skulls fan. "Are you mute or something?" I realized I had simply been sitting there staring and scraped myself off the floor with an aggravated no. "Well that's good. I would hate for a pretty thing like you not to be able to speak." This time I did roll my eyes.

"Hate to disappoint you Cherry Blossom, but I'm not interesting in your half assed attempts at flirting, or in running into you again so if you would kindly step aside I need to finish enrolling." The hottie had the audacity to be amused.

"New girl has spunk. Can't wait to see what Amber says about that. Well good luck Pixie."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second! Who the hell are you callin a pixie?!" He simply smirked and said,

"See ya around new girl, if you aren't dead by the end of the day I might have something to show you." I blinked. He was gone, leaving that enigmatic statement hanging in the air. I didn't like him. At all. Sure he was hot as Hades, but that perverted smirk of his was a definite turn off. Or at least it should have been. And 'pixie'? Sure I had blonde hair that hung to my waist and purple eyes, (my only natural feature), and I was petite, but I wasn't short. Or bouncy and hyper like a fairy, and I wasn't short, so how could he possibly be calling me short?! Shaking my head to clear it I turned down the next hallway, where I found the principle talking to Nathan or whatever. I didn't bother excusing myself for interrupting, I wasn't here to make a good impression. I handed her the documents all nice and neat with her stupid little paperclip. She smiled and thanked me, then told Nathaniel she would talk to him later, waddling towards the office. Nate turned to me,

"The lunch bell is about to ring, would you like for me to show you the cafeteria? You'll start classes right after but lunch is always a good idea." I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to my left foot, something I did when I was thinking. I supposed letting him show me the cafeteria wouldn't hurt, besides, I was more likely to get lost than anything else.

"Ok," and I waited for him to lead the way. He lead me up a flight of stairs and turned left. The cafeteria was HUGE. Nathaniel left me then, so I got in the production line. I had just turned to go claim an empty table when someone ran smack into me, causing my lunch to go all over me. I sighed and looked to the ceiling, wondering what cruel god was laughing at me. I looked down to see who the klutz was. She was blonde, and was wearing designer clothes and an expression that would freeze hell.

"Oops, so very sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to run into you. But let that just be a warning of what's to come if you don't stay away from Nathaniel and Castiel, got it babe?"

I drew myself up to my full height, still two inches shorter than her in her heels, and looked her right in the eye.

"Then let this be your warning _sweetheart_," I laced as much venom into the word as I could and continued.

"I will not be reigned over my some bitch who thinks she's queen just because she thinks she can be. Stay away from me and go bully someone with the same maturity level as you. I'm pretty sure I passed the Junior High on the way over here, why don't you go check it out, eh _babe_?" Her cronies gasped and looked to her for a retaliation. I wasn't expecting to be slapped, and was too busy seeing stars to respond.

"I warned you new girl," she sneered and flounced away, artificial blonde hair swaying in the wind. Well, at least girl friends were out of the question. One less thing to worry about. I looked down at my ruined shirt and sighed. There were some guys laughing at me, but a glare silenced them. Heaving a sigh I walked to the bathroom. Once in there I pulled a spare outfit from my backpack. I had everything I could ever need in there. Clothes, cash, numerous incredibly good false ids, everything I would ever need. I sighed and hated my life some more. I hated having to be on the run, never having a place to be. But I could never settle down, my entire life was destined to be this way. If Dimitri found me my life would be worse than death, and so I kept on the move, blending in so no one noticed when I left. Such was my existence. Oh well. I pulled on my green VC shirt and headed outside just as the bell rang. I checked my schedule, 5th period…. Biology. Yuck, right after lunch. Great, just great. Room 289, west wing, 2nd floor. Well at least I didn't have to do stairs.

"Class, we have a new student. Will you please introduce yourself?"

I resisted the cuss him out. If my fighting abilities weren't limited to punching, I would have considered jostling his brains instead. I stood, said "Aria, hi." And sat back down. People were already whispering about me, just great. Why couldn't these little bimbos find something better to gossip about than me? All but growling I watched the seconds tick away on the clock. I started daydreaming while the teacher, Mr. Winston or something I think, droned about the "amazing anatomy of an unborn swine fetus" a.k.a. an unborn pig. Gross. The bell finally rang. I decided I would skip the rest of the day, I couldn't stand it any longer. Grabbing my backpack I headed to the courtyard. Cherry Blossom was leaning against the tree, headphones in. Good, that meant I wouldn't have to speak to him. Me and my smart assed thoughts, the earbuds came out, alerting me to the impending conversation. As I moved closer his eyes roamed my body. I blushed slightly under his scrutiny, I wasn't used to being looked at. Well, not in an appreciative manner. Not by anyone but Dimitri. The thought of him sent me into an automatic downer mood, and I became extremely uncomfortable under Cherry Blossom's gaze. His voice sent shivers down my spine when he spoke. He didn't sound angry like he had earlier, and his voice was incredibly sexy. Deep, and making me melt like chocolate. Wait! Bad teenage girl brain, not interested do you hear me?! Not interested! He spells trouble! The less co-operative part of my brain said _Oh yeah he's trouble. Trouble wrapped up in a tall gorgeously toned package with a sexy voice on top of it all. But hey, we've never been good at staying out of trouble, have we? And let's not forget, trouble has never looked quite so damn delectable…_ I know I blushed harder at my thought pattern, I just know it. But wait he's talking to me I need to listen so I don't seem utterly retarded.

"Well Pixie, you have definitely gotten off to a good start here at Amoris. After all, you managed to piss off the principle, Natey-boy," He grimaced at the name, making me wonder what their history was,

"Amber and her bitches seem to have taken a hating to you, and you're wearing a Vintage Corpse shirt. How in the hell is anyone supposed to like you if you go around insulting everyone, and wear stuff like that?" He gestured to my t-shirt. Ok buddy, that was the last straw. No way was he getting away with insulting my band. Insult me, my past, my appearance, anything. But not the BAND.

"Look here asshole, I don't care what you or anyone else at this school thinks of me, but you insult my band, well you insult my band and I'll be forced to do something that I won't really regret. You are a bastard. Now if you'll excuse me Cherry Blossom, I'm going home." I began to walk away, audibly chuckling over my success and his stunned expression. I was about halfway to my car when I was grabbed. On instinct I pushed my elbow where the guy's gut should have been. There was nothing there. I whipped my head around to see who had captured me, praying that _he_ hadn't found me somehow. It was only Cherry head. I yanked my hand away and slapped him as hard as I could. He was shocked. My brain said good he's distracted make a run for it quick! I turned to run, but by then he had captured my waist. It was not something I should have been feeling electricity over. I should be feeling chills and utter rage, not butterflies in my stomach!

He laughed quietly. "Well at least I know how NOT to grab you next time. Come on Pixie, we're going someplace, and you don't have a choice." Panic flared in my abdomen. This could not be good. I knew he was trouble, and a playboy from watching him around the school, but I didn't think he'd do something like _that_. I struggled again, and he must have seen the panicked outrage in my eyes, because he rolled his.

"I'm gonna do anything like that Pixie, not until you ask me to. But for now, unless you want to change your mind," he paused looking for an answer, and I mutely shook my head no, all but shaking with anger. He continued "Then we're going somewhere. Come on." He still had his iron grip on my waist. It was bringing back painful memories. _Very_ painful memories. Bits of memories started to seep into my brain, just little flashbacks. Being grabbed the same way Cherry had, being shoved against a wall… his whisper soft voice next to my ear, telling me exactly what he was going to do…. I hadn't noticed I had been moving until Cherry Blossom pulled out a key ring. I glanced at the door for a second, seeing "No Student Entry" in big black letters in the middle. "Um Cherry Blossom-"

"Castiel."

"What?"

"My name is Castiel, not Cherry Blossom. And what in the hell possessed you to call me that?"

I grinned as he pushed open the door. "Well I-" I stopped. We were on the roof of the school, looking down at the little city. I could see everything. Amoris was called a city, but it was more of your average small town. A couple restaurants right off the main drag, a supermarket, theater, cinema, Junior High and High school. Nothing spectacular.

"Wow." Smooth, Aria, real smooth. Real articulate too. He chuckled in response, and walked over to join me at the railing. We stood there for a while, not talking. I jumped when the bell rang for the next class. It was last period now, only about an hour before school was over. I failed to see the point in leaving on time if I was trying to escape early. I turned to Castiel, who was staring at the city intently, a faint blush on his cheeks. I wondered why that was, there was nothing up here to embarrass him…

"Hey Castiel, this is great and all, but my purpose earlier was to leave and you wouldn't let me so now I need to go."

He smirked at me, and I felt butterflies emerging from their cocoons. Uh-oh, bad news bad news very bad news, I could not like him! He was only going to get hurt if I got close to him. Not only emotionally, but worst case scenario, if Dimitri ever DID find me, he would probably kill Castiel, just to show he really did own me, and that no one else could. I was so lost in thought I jumped at the sound of his oh so sexy voice. No! Bad teenage girl brain! Bad!

"Whatever. Just figured you needed something good to happen on your first day, and I felt like being a good guy today. Bye Pixie."

"My name is NOT _pixie_!" I hoped he got the impression of the word dripping with venom. His stormy grey eyes just sparkled with humor. "Then what is it?"

"Ariana." I spit out before I realized my mistake. I hated the name Ariana, hence me going by Aria. "No wait its Aria. Just Aria."

"Well just Aria, I would suggest you run along if you want to find your way back before school is out. And a bit of advice, either listen to Winged Skulls or ditch the t-shirt." And with that he smirked and plugged in his earbuds before I could retort. Now I was grumpy, he insulted Vintage Corpse AGAIN! I made my way back down the stairs and attempted to find the exit.


	4. Antisocial

I have decided to name my alarm clock Patrick. But only so that I may cuss it, I mean, him, out when he blares in the morning. As soon as I went down the stairs after escaping Castiel, I was hopelessly lost. I was wondering through the halls when I bumped into a girl named Melody. She helped me find the way out, and made me promise to eat lunch with her as payment. She said I was gonna need the girl friends around here, without them, I was as good as road kill apparently. Oh well back to the current situation. Patrick has awoken me yet again. I didn't want to be awakened, that was for absolute certain. My imagination can do whatever it likes while I dream, no matter who (Castiel in this case) it may include. I sighed and went through the morning ritual. Today's attire consisted of khaki shorts that hit me about two inches down, and a purple flowering Vintage Corpse t-shirt. Can't help it, they're my band, end of explanation. I grabbed my black backpack and headed out the door without breakfast, as Patrick had informed me it was 7:23. 10 minute walk to the school, the rest of the time to locate my locker and the class. It didn't matter I had been there a week. I was starting to doubt my once amazing sense of direction.

I walked into Government II 5 minutes late. Mumbling an apology to the clearly pissed off teacher, I slunk to the nearest open seat, next to a ginger. Ugh, please no, not a ginger. Gingers don't have souls! She'll probably hate me, like just about everyone else, and make my life miserable. Oh well came with the turf, running away from life constantly, it wasn't exactly easy to make friends. By this time I had sat down and pulled a black and blue flowered notebook from the depths of my backpack. The Ginger turned to me and smiled, and handed me the first two pages of notes, then turned back to copying the next page. I blinked, stunned. Since when do Gingers have souls?! Let alone nice ones… A note flung itself onto my desk. I opened it up.

_Hi, I'm Iris You're in all but 2 classes with me, and there's an open seat next to me in all of them if you're interested! I know we don't know each other too well, but that's sure to come. After all, Melody told me she made you swear to come to lunch and meet the girls so I'm sure you'll fit right in! In any other class I would have just told you instead of writing a note, but Mr. Clarkson is insane when it comes to talking in class. Not even Castiel does it. When he's here anyways ;)_

The note made me smile, ok, ok it was more of a grin but still, she managed to get something out of me. That's an accomplishment. Especially for a ginger. I replied:

_Hey thanks I'm Aria if Melody didn't tell you. Thanks for the notes btw. You know, I have a feeling that you won't be a half bad friend, for a ginger ;}_

She stared at me in mock hurt, and it was hard to resist the urge to laugh. Sitting there listening to Mr. Clarkson talk about the importance of high government salaries I realized I had just made a huge mistake. I had made a friend.

* * *

I moved faster than any Olympian when the bell rang. I ran to my locker to put my stuff away, trying to avoid anyone I knew, (Melody, Nat, Castiel, Iris) I needed to make myself unfriendly, so far my attitude had repelled everyone but Castiel, much to my disgust he seemed to enjoy my cynicism. Which was annoying, it was the easiest way to keep people at a distance. I grabbed my English binder and _The Odyssey_, which of course I had already read. I shut my locker, and came face to face with a wall, a tall, gorgeous, red-headed wall. Snap out of it Ariana! NO BOYFRIENDS! And no friends either for that matter. If you make friends, people remember you, and if that happens then you leave a trail. And a trail can be tracked, and that means you can be found. By _Dimitri_. End of thought pattern. Back to the smirking Cherry Blossom.

"By the look on that cute little face of yours Pixie, I think I scared you." Oh no, you only showed up out of nowhere, then started talking in that incredibly sexy voice that makes me wanna just throw away everything I worked for. That was the scary part, the last bit. Ok, maybe the first part too.

"Actually I-" I was cut off by the bell. I turned to leave but Castiel grabbed my backpack. I tensed, ready to jettison out of there if he proved to be one of Dimitri's little friends. He opened his mouth to say something right when the principle waddled up.

"Ariana, how has you're first week of Sweet Amoris High been?" Without waiting for a reply she continued, "Good, good. Well I have been informed that you neither have an elective nor have you joined a club. There are only two clubs open, and only three options for your elective. You may either join the basketball or gardening clubs. You may choose between art, home ec, or the yearbook committee for your elective. Go see Nathaniel about your decisions. And be quick about it dear, he hasn't got all day, and you need to be in a class if I'm not mistaken. And that goes for you as well Castiel. My, how you've grown since we spoke last. Oh well goodbye dearhearts!"

She ran off towards her office. I turned to Castiel. He was blushing slightly, probably at her comment. I rolled my eyes at him and started towards the Student Council Room. He trailed after me, much to my surprise. I glanced up at him and arched an eyebrow. He just shrugged. I threw my hands up in surrender, it was impossible to know what he could possibly be thinking in that Winged Skulls brain of his. We reached the student council room. I pushed open the door without knocking, seemingly much to Natey's irritation and Cherry Blossom's amusement. The two glared at each other for a moment. I stood between them, looking up at them confused, swiveling my head back and forth in curiosity. Nathaniel looked down at me.

"Do you need something Ariana?"

"Besides you not using my full name you mean?" He did his famous face palm at that. I smirked, he mumbled sorry. I continued,

"Cotton Candy Principle hath commanded, I am to join a club and elective. My decisions are to go through you so here I am."

"Well what did you decide? There's no point in telling me all this nonsense if you don't already have answer." Note to self, gets snappy when near Red-headed Winged Skulls fan. Hmm, I wonder why…

"Yah Nat, I have my answers. I'm gonna join basketball and Home Ec. That good or do you need my social security number, credit card information, my juvie record perhaps?" Castiel snorted a laugh behind me, and Nathaniel's expression made my mouth twitch, threatening a rare smile. Smiling is not allowed though, so I resisted.

"That's fine thank you. Now go to class, I need to lock up." I rolled my eyes but proceeded into the hallway. Castiel was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, less trouble for me. I rounded the corner on the way to English and ran into Amber. Literally. She was on the floor. Her cronies stared in horror at their fallen queen. If Medusa had been real, Amber would have put her to shame when it came to looks that could kill. I just looked down at the Barbie doll.

"Watch where you goin' honey, or you might squish you face in. Wouldn't want you turning out looking like your friends here would we?"

The two girls stared at me in open mouthed shock and rage. I laughed and walked away, near the lockers on the other side as Amber was sure to try to trip me or something 4th grade like that. I walked into English when Mrs. Ellerman had her back turned. I looked for an empty seat, the nearest by a window. Only one problem with said seat. It came with a Winged Skulls cronie. Fun, fun. Well Castiel sounded better than another note transfer session with Iris. I made my way over to him as quickly and quietly as I could. I didn't make a sound. That was my only real talent. Sneaking, being quiet, fading. I was good at all of those. He was leaned against the window with his earbuds in and eyes closed. I sat down silently, nothing alerting him of my presence. I leaned over and pulled out one of his earbuds, and stuck it in my own ear. He jolted and started to cuss me out when he realized he was still in class. I grimaced at the Winged Skulls' so called "music". Heavy crashing sounds, what might have been an electric guitar at one point, possibly a bass guitar, not likely. The lead voice wailed into my ear.I pulled the earbud out with a yank. I handed it back to him, making disappointment clear on my face. I wrote a note;

_I am extremely disappointed I must say. I was hoping that shirt was just something someone gave you and you didn't realize your folly. Should have known better. Winged Skulls on the iPod only means one thing, we can't associate any longer. Been nice knowing you Castiel._

His expression was unreadable as he read my note. He scribbled a response and slid it back to my side of the desk.

_It's a shame you feel that way, I was hoping the same thing about you and your Vintage Corpse. I suppose this means I can start being a jerk to the "New Girl" instead of being nice like I have been. Such a shame really, I wanted you to meet someone this afternoon._

Damn him now I was curious.

_Damn you Castiel Stone, I'm curious now. Fine, our friendship (if that's what you wanna call it, I say its more along the lines of a truce, but that's just me) can wait to be terminated until after I meet this somebody this afternoon._

I slid him the note back. He smirked at me and turned the iPod back on again. The rest of the class dragged on, time slowing down specifically for my misery alone. Oh great and powerful powers of the Universe and Karma, what have I done to offend thee? Show me the err of my way so that I may become your humble servant whom you favor! Ugh, why me?

Lunch rolled around sometime after I began my meditation in attempt to appease the spirits of Karma. I plopped down at my empty table, just like normal. Only today I was joined by a girl with purple hair and grey eyes.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry, I was zoned out." She laughed quietly.

"I noticed. You were mumbling something about 'humble thine dutiful servant oh great and powerful karma...' or something like that. If you so desire, I will sit somewhere else so you may continue your meditation."

I laughed. Hard. I really DID sound crazy. Violette was smiling broadly, clearly pleased by getting a reaction out of me. She continued while I tried to control myself.

"But, if I may, I'm here to ask," she paused and glanced at Iris, who motioned her to go on, "Correction, I have come here to order you to attend the monthly Amoris Girls night. A.k.a Iris and I want you to come over for the weekend."

This put me in a sticky situation. By my calculations, in order to be forgotten quickly I needed to postpone the inevitable curiosity about myself until the week of Thanksgiving, then I could transfer somewhere else after Christmas. It was the normal cycle, never failed. Unless someone took an interest in me earlier. Like Ken. I shuddered, so glad I was able to transfer before something happened. I had been in Greenwich, Illinois for two weeks when the little creep decided he was gonna find a way to win my heart and marry me. He creeped me out almost as much as Dimitri. _Almost. _But I didn't have time to worry about Dimitri, even if he was the reason I was in this fucked up situation of running for my life. If I went to Violette and Iris's, then I would be making better friends than I already was. We ate lunch everyday last week, after I was introduced. If I engaged in after school activity, their likelihood to forget me quickly diminished by at least 35%. So in other words, I was screwed. I sat there chewing my sandwich, hoping I looked like I was mulling it over, when in actuality I was looking for an escape route. I saw Castiel enter the lunch room and a brilliant thought lodged itself in my head. Or at least, it was brilliant at the time being anyway…

"Actually Vi, I um have plans already." She leaned in, clearly interested. She was awfully detached to those who she didn't open up to, ei, people who weren't Iris or me. I had no idea why she decided to like me. Why me of all people? I sighed, I did know her well enough to know I would never be left alone if I didn't spill. She and Iris were likely to follow me home. So I sighed and made one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

"Well? Who do you have plans with? I know for a fact that you wouldn't have plans unless someone forced you, you antisocial hermit crab. So tell me, who are you going with?"

"Castiel."


	5. Octopus Blood and Motorcycles

Violette squealed and ran, no, raced, to Iris. She relayed the conversation and Iris swiveled her head between me and the red-head headed my way. She smirked, and mimed writing a note. That could only mean one thing, I had to explain myself next class. Greeeeeeeat. Wonderful. Truly. Nothing in the world could have been better than that moment. I tried to think of all the horrible things I did to innocent little flowers and such and begged the Universe to forgive me for plucking the petals off a flower everyday on my way home from school. I looked up from my suddenly unappetizing lunch to come face to face with the devil himself. God, he was gorgeous. Snap out of it Aria! Danger zone; red alert, this is not a drill repeat this is not a drill!

Castiel threw a thumb in the direction of the girls, who very both now watching very intently. I could all but hear them, imagining just what they would be saying. Probably how Castiel and I were suited for each other, both of us seeming to hate people, a mutual dislike of Nathaniel, the principle and Amber, and a clashing taste in rock music, the perfect double trouble couple. Yup, that's what they're saying, I just know it. Castiel looked at me expectantly, waiting none too patiently for an answer. Well, he could sit there and rot, no way was he getting the truth.

"Well Pixie? You gonna explain or not?" I bit my lip, weighing my options. If I told him now, he was likely to make a scene and I would be embarrassed forever. Now I have no problem being hated or rejected but I hate being embarrassed. I decided to tell him whenever we went to meet this "somebody" later this afternoon. But until then,

"I promise to tell you when we meet this somebody today." His smirk made me pause.

"Why are you grinning like that? Cherry Blossom?" He grimaced at his nickname, then stood and flashed his signature Castiel Cheshire cat grin, and left. You have got to be kidding me. Aggravation. End of story. With a sigh, I forced myself to move and throw away my no longer appetizing lunch. I might as well get to biology early today. We were finally get assigned partners, three weeks into the school year. We had been reading safety rules, procedures and all that wonderfully useless shit. I headed to my locker, managing to avoid everyone. I grabbed my stuff and looked around, as a force of habit.

_Always assume you're not alone. Never let your guard down. Never run where you can't hide. And most of all Hannah, never, ever trust anyone._

I shook my head, the last thing I wanted to remember right now was my mother's last advice. Or my real name. Didn't want to be reminded I was Hannah Romanov from Russia. With my mother's advice, I could have survived St. Petersburg all by myself at the age of 7. But she had one flaw; she didn't follow the last of her advice. She trusted my father, and regretted it till her last breath. Then father met Dimitri, then Dimitri met me, and… I stopped in front of the biology room. I refused to have my sappy back story on my mind while trying to observe the anatomy of pickled pig fetuses. I grimaced. I hated blood. Icky stuff, that. I walked into the lab.

"Gigi and Kevin, Charlotte and Dake, Amber and Li, Nathaniel and Iris, Violette and Jade, Castiel and Aria. All right everyone, pick a table, but choose wisely, its your till next semester!"

I groaned inwardly. I really hoped I could survive biology. After all, it wasn't like Mr. I'm-Castiel-Stone-the-bad-boy-slash-player-slash-j erkface-slash-basketball-player-slash-Winged-Skull s-fan-slacker was ever gonna show up. Speak of the devil, here he comes. Must have been standing in the doorway while Mr. Winston was droning. He took his seat next to me and smirked.

"Might have to start coming to this class." I rolled my eyes. One of his cheesier pick up lines. I ignored him as I pulled on gloves and goggles.

"Put those on Cherry Blossom. Can't start till you do." He pouted. Undoubtedly wanting to refrain from following orders. I turned to face him. "Put them on now or I will make your life hell for causing me to fail a class because I can't do the work because of an uncooperative idiot!" I ground out. My hands had fisted and he was looking at them amused. He threw his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright! Please Pixie, I beg don't turn me into a frog! Unless you plan on kissing me to reverse it of course." He winked to punctuate his sentence, while pulling on gloves and goggles. I knew my face was burning. Damn him. He chuckled at my reaction then went to get a pickled octopus from Mr. Winston. I sighed when he left, my stomach had done that stupid tightening thing when he winked. It was becoming increasingly frequent whenever he was around and it was annoying as hell. He returned with a squishy something. I grimaced and scooted away a bit. Nasty, squishy and filled with blood. Yuck. I refuse to touch it. Absolutely not, I won't do it.

* * *

The nurse handed me a towel. I wiped my face and thanked her. I headed out of the nurse's office and into the main foyer. Castiel glared at me.

"What took so long? You had already thrown up in the lab, surely you don't have so weak a stomach that you had to retch again?" The glare I sent him had turned better men to ash. He almost flinched. I wish he would have.

"I do not have a weak stomach! I just can't stand blood! You shouldn't have made me touch it you bastard! I warned you I hated biology!" He laughed and grabbed my hand, dragging me towards the gates.

"Hey where do you think you're taking me?! This is kidnapping and its illegal!"

My reply was a laugh and, "Do I look like the type to care what the law says?"

Um, no. No he did not. I tried to tug my arm away. "I can walk all by myself ya know. I'm a big girl." He smirked and pulled me closer to him. His other hand grazed my lower back, then around to my hip. I felt my face flame while my stomach was assaulted with butterflies. He laughed and released me, stopping in front of a bike. Wow, what a bike, it was gorgeous. Black. Really shiny, clean, smooth black. I had always wanted a motorcycle, but given my situation, a car was necessary. Hard to pack your life into a saddlebag. I might not have much to move around with but I still had some stuff.

"Pixie, are you just gonna stand and stare at the bike or you gonna join me?"

"Where are we going?" I eyed him warily. I didn't trust him. I didn't trust anybody. But especially not Castiel. He rolled his eyes at me.

"I told you, I'm taking you to meet someone. Now come on Pixie get on."

While I climbed on behind him I asked,

"Why must you call me Pixie? My name is Aria and I am not a fairy! I'm not short, I don't have wings, and I don't skip through tulips singing about happiness and rainbows!" I could hear his laughter over the roar of the engine. He yelled over the din,

"Hold on Pixie, or you'll wish you really did have wings!" I rolled my eyes and placed my arm around his waist. The muscles were taught and hard. Toned. I sighed inwardly, my stupid teenage girl brain beginning to think up fantasies. Imagining what his most likely gorgeous tummy looked like without a shirt on it, wondering just how good those muscles would feel under my finger tips, maybe other things. I turned bright red at those thoughts. BAD TEENAGE GIRL BRAIN! Hadn't I learned my lesson with Dimitri?! And on that point, hadn't he started out the same way? Having *cough* innocent *cough* fantasies? Actually… no, it hadn't. I had never fantasized about Dimitri, and nothing that he did was my choice. My brain went into flash back mode. _Dimitri's hard muscles suspended above me, his smile holding pure malice. A hand stroked my face, and I shuddered. The smile widening as his hands trailed father down. Finger tips skimming my collar bone, continuing farther down their path that burned holes in my skin. Being burned would have been better than what he was going to do. He leaned close and whispered in my ear,_

"_I hope you're ready Hannah. I truly hope you are. I truly do." I cried out as he-_

"We're here." Castiel's sexy voice brought me back to reality. I removed my arms from him as I looked around. We were parked in front of a huge house, right outside town by the looks of it. Not far from my own actually, only a couple fences away. Coincidence? I wish. The park looked to be about a mile away, and the school even farther. Ugh, what had I gotten myself into? I sighed as Castiel pulled out his keys and walked to the door. He quickly unlocked it and slipped inside.


	6. Curiosity Caught the Dog?

Castiel's P.O.V

I left Aria standing at the door while I went to get Demon. I hoped he didn't act like he normally did. He hated everyone who wasn't me, which was sorta the plan when I trained him. But he ended up hating all my girlfriends. Or any female I brought home. Which meant in order to have any fun we had to go to her place. Which hardly ever panned out. With a sigh I whistled for Demon. I gave myself about three seconds to have a treat out or be tackled and possibly killed. I didn't move fast enough. I was pushed to the floor within two seconds. I pushed Demon off me, commanding him to sit. He was too over-excitable. I hooked the leash to his collar, and led him out the door. I wondered if he would hate Aria as much as the others. I liked her a lot more than any girl I had dated in the past. I held my breath as he pulled on the leash, having spotted her. His bark resounded through the empty street, sounded like a wolf. Aria jumped and whirled around to face us.

Her eyes widened in shock at the size of Demon. Then she smiled. It felt like someone had just hit me in the chest with a hammer. I had never seen her actually smile. It was breathtaking. Shit I sound like some kind of love struck teenager. This is purely lust I remind myself. Purely lust. I started to think of all the wicked things I'd like to do to that sinfully beautiful body of hers. Demon tugged on the leash, almost getting away. It brought me back to reality and I blushed. Those thoughts should stay locked indoors. Luckily Ariana was too busy watching Demon to see my blush. I walked slowly towards her, an iron grip on Demon's leash. If he got away and tried to eat her it would probably lower my chances of getting her back to the house, much less *cough* other places. Implying nothing at all of course. Demon snarled, and I sighed. He hated her. Of course he did. Then she spoke in the softest, nicest tone I had ever heard from her,

"Hey now, its ok. I'm Hann- I mean Aria. I'm a friend of Castiel. See? There's a good boy, don't bite, just hold still, good boy. Very, very good boy." She had inched towards Demon, who was still snarling and growling. She reached out a small hand. He sniffed it. And again. He nosed her hand, begging to be pet. I was in utter shock. Demon. Had. Not. Bitten. Her. He hadn't bitten her, and was begging to be pet! He wiggled between her legs, trying to get closer so she could scratch his ichy spot. She giggled and complied to the mutt's wishes. We stood there a few moments, her petting my demon of a dog, and me staring at her. Why had she started to say her name was something else? Han what? Hannah maybe? What other names started with Han? What was she hiding? It wasn't exactly normal to go around- she glanced up at me with a confused expression.

"Are we gonna stand here all day or did you have plans? And when am I going to meet this mysterious somebody?" I shook my head to clear it of the haze of shock.

"Yah we're going somewhere. And this is who I wanted you to meet. Demon, Pixie. Pixie, Demon. Now you've met. Let's go." I turned towards the city. Demon whimpered as I pulled him away from Aria's side. She ran to catch up with me. I glanced down at her, trying to read her mood. She glared up at me. What did I do?

"I can't believe you. Simply cannot believe you." She shook her head and continued.

"You drug me out of school, required me to maintain our alliance/friendship thing and forced me to touch an octopus just so that you could introduce me to your dog!?" I couldn't help but laugh. Her aggravation was rather amusing.

"And slow down you bastard I can't walk that fast!" I laughed some more at that. She gave me a glare, one that probably turned other guys off and made them run for their lives. Just made me wanna wipe it off her face with one well executed kiss. But it was too early for that I think. We had reached the park, so I let Demon off his leash. I threw the Frisbee I had managed to grab before we left. He sprinted after the whirling plastic disk, leaving Aria and I alone. I turned towards her. She was still glowering up at me. I smirked at her, it didn't affect me. My smirk seemed to affect her though. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards me. She fought me, but to no avail. Not only am I just a lot stronger and bigger, (after all, I didn't name her pixie for no reason) the poor thing had no idea how to defend herself. With all her fire, that was surprising. The glare she gave me nearly made me flinch. But I didn't let go. I liked the way she fit next me. She could get over it.

"So Pixie, why did you nearly tell Demon your name was something other than Aria?" the question clearly threw her off, at least a little. She paled slightly.

"I- I don't know w-what your talking about." I narrowed my eyes at her, she wasn't telling me something. But I let it go. For now. Demon trotted back with the Frisbee, but instead of giving it to me, he dropped it at Aria's feet. This was officially the weirdest thing to happen to me since my parents actually showed up for a holiday three years ago. So in other words, weird. Aria swept down with a graceful flourish and picked up the Frisbee. She angled her hand just right and sent the plastic disk flying expertly through the air. She turned to me with a half smile. I doubted I'd ever see a smile like earlier. Or at least not anytime soon.

"I've always wanted a dog. A big black one, just like Demon. Where'd you get him?"

The night came to me like it was yesterday. My parents, driving me nuts as always, drinking, smoking, making crude jokes, being them. I momentarily lost myself in the flashback.

_I stormed out of the house. I couldn't stand to be around them any longer. Why did they even bother coming home anymore? I was raised by various nannies, my parents never giving a damn about what I did or what happened to me. Seething, I walked down the deserted street, shivering in the cold. I had forgotten to grab my coat. Some Christmas this was turning out to be. Walking around, alone, in the cold, without a coat. I saw something in the snow, black and fuzzy looking. I picked it up, it was a little dog. Huh, another unwanted. Maybe we could be friends. A car pulled up, and I felt no fear. Go ahead, kidnap me. If I got kidnapped, at least they'd pay attention to me. Petra stopped the car and got out. "Come on Castiel, let's go home." "I don't wanna Petra. They don't care about me." "But I do baby, come on now, let's go home. What have you got there?" I let her see the little puppy. "Maybe we can save him hmm? Alright bud, back in the car." I got in the car and we drove home, me petting the little puppy the whole way. He started whimpering so I knew he wasn't dead. I had always wanted a dog… Petra pulled the car to a stop and I got out. I walked back in the house, not bothering to so much as look at the completely stoned Stones._

"I found him. In the snow on Christmas Eve. I managed to save him from hypothermia. I trained him myself. Up till you, he's been an excellent guard dog. Hates the human race in general."

She blinked. Probably not the response she was expecting. Oh well. My turn for a question.

"So why were Iris and Violette watching us so closely today? You promised me an explanation."

She blushed and looked away. Oh, this'll be good. This'll be real good. I stalked up to her.

"Well Pixie? Have an answer?" She jumped, having not noticed my change in position. Demon ran up before she could reply. This time I snatched the Frisbee from him. With a growl he lunged for me. I threw the Frisbee as hard as I could. He ran after it at full speed.

"Come on Pixie, the longer you keep me in suspense the worse my reaction will be."

"Alright, alright! IkindasortatoldViolettethati hadplanswithyouthisweekendso thatiwouldnthavetodoagrilsni ghtwithherandIrisandI'mreallysorryIshouldn'thavebu tyouwalkedinrightatth emomentiwaslookingforanexcus esoithoughtgoingoutwithyouwa sagoodexcuseandnowIreallyreg retitbecauseit'ssuperembbarrassingandthisis superswkwardnow!"

She probably thought I was mentally deranged by the time I replied. It was hard to digest that tiny bit of information. I smirked as her words finally made sense.

"So in other words, as far as Iris and Violette are concerned, we're going out this weekend?" She nodded, keeping her eyes down, clearly embarrassed. I chuckled.

"Now I have another question. In order to avoid them, you claim to be going out with me. But a date only implies one night. Which means you would still be stuck with them the day after correct? How do you plan to avoid that? Surely our little 'date' isn't going to be an overnight thing is it? You're still new, that could completely spoil any chance at a good reputation ya know." She turned bright red. It was a good color on her. I smiled evilly. She did a wonderful impression of Nathaniel's famous face palm.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. That must be why Iris was snickering. I'm such an idiot! Ugh! Damn it all to hell! I told Violette I had plans for the WEEKEND!" She hit her head on my shoulder repeatedly.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I grabbed her shoulders and held her at a distance.

"Oh come on Pixie, I'm not that bad. And besides, I promise I'll be good. I won't do anything until you ask me to." I smirked at her and received a glare in response. She's awfully cute when she's angry. The sun was starting to set so I whistled for Demon, who had been chasing squirrels again. I attached his leash and collar and handed it to Aria. She looked at me questioningly. I shrugged in response, and headed towards the school so she could get her car. She followed close behind me, and seemed to be a having a bit of trouble with Demon. He was excited again. Damn dog.

"Want me to take him back? I'll do it if you can't handle him. He is almost as big as you Pixie." I smirked as she shook her head. So stubborn. It was cute. But that was the only quote 'cute' thing about her. The rest of her was sinfully hot. Long blonde hair that brushed her waist, big purple eyes rimmed by full, dark lashes. A perfectly proportioned body, might be considered too big in society. But to me she was perfect. Waist slender, but not overly so. And soft and curved in all the right places. Her hips just begged to be grabbed and held onto, much like other parts of her. My thoughts just started getting really interesting when I heard a thud behind me. I turned so see Aria sprawled on the ground, still holding the leash, much to her credit. I resisted the urge to laugh as I took the leash and tied it to a nearby bench. I knelt down to inspect her bleeding knee. She looked towards the clouds, averting her eyes. Oh yah, I forgot, she hates blood. Well there was a good bit of it on her. I sighed, the was only one thing to do, seeing as I had no band-aid or anything. I stood and removed my jacket, then my shirt. She glanced at me and blushed. I smirked. I was glad I let Dajan convince me to play basketball as well as my normal workout. Apparently I was worth looking away from. Haha. I pressed the shirt to her knee. After a few moments she glanced back at me and mumbled her thanks, then turned to look at the clouds again, her blush returning. I put my shirt back on then my jacket. The shirt was ruined but it was fine, it was just a shirt. I held out a hand to help her up. Thoroughly embarrassed, she grabbed it. I hauled her to her feet.

"You see Pixie? You are delicate after all." I wasn't expecting the punch in my arm. It hurt rather badly. Might even bruise. Damn. Ok so she might not have defense training but she sure did have a mean right hook.

"I'm sorry about your- wait no, I take that back. One less Winged Skulls t-shirt for me to have to look at."

A thought lodged itself in my head at that exact moment. So she didn't like my shirt huh? Well fine. I pulled off my jacket with one swift motion, and then the shirt. I hung both on one of my arms, my other being needed for holding Demon's leash. She watched me with a look of utter shock for a moment, then turned the prettiest shade of crimson.

"What?" I demanded. "You said you didn't like my shirt. So I got rid of it. Wouldn't want to scar those pretty violet eyes of yours now would we?" Her intelligent reply came:

"I- I- d-did you really have to _remove_ the shirt?!" Her voice got a little higher. Huh. So when she gets flustered, she squeaks. Adorable. God, there I go again, sounding like some love struck teenage girl. I need a better vocabulary. I smirked down at her. She was so small compared to me. We continued on our path towards the school. Aria walked slightly ahead of me, I didn't like it. I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back closer to me, so we could walk in sync. I like my girl to walk right next to me, where she belonged. _Wait since when is she YOURS Castiel Lane?_ I cringed at the sound of my conscience. Well that and the sound of my middle name. It wasn't often either of those surfaced. Oh well. We turned the corner to the school. There were only a couple cars left in the lot. Aria's little black Camri, Nate's blue Prius, the principle's pink Bug. Aria hadn't said anything when I grabbed her hand earlier, she was so lost in thought.

"Whatchya thinkin' bout Pixie?"

She blushed and glanced up before replying,

"I was thinking about how I'm going to clear up the weekend situation without making a complete fool or slut out of myself. I don't think I'll be able to escape Iris and Vi either way, but Cherry Blossom, I don't trust you any more than I believe in Santa." I actually grinned at that. Was a funny comparison. But what was with that nickname? It was driving me crazy.

"Why do you keep calling me Cherry Blossom? It's pretty damn stupid." She shrugged. By now we had reached her car. She slipped off her backpack and sat it on the pavement, unzipping pocket after pocket looking for her keys. Did she ever not have that? I tried to remember ever seeing her without her backpack. I couldn't come up with a single thing. I smirked as she continued to look for her keys. She had a really cute ass. Especially from this angle…She put her hands on her hips and glared at her backpack, as if it was somehow it's fault that her keys wound up in my pocket.

"Looking for these Pixie?" I pulled her keys out of my jacket pocket and twirled them on my index finger. It had been easy to get them, just unzip the first pocket. She whirled around to look at me. The anger was evident on her face, but eyes told an entirely different story. Worry, panic, and fear roiled together creating a violent violet storm in her eyes. Why? I had only stolen her keys, it wasn't like I had kidnapped her or anything…

"Give them back. Right now." She held out a small hand. Without a smart remark I handed them back. I was too confused and angry to reply. Confused because of the untold story in her eyes. Angry because it meant someone would have had to hurt her in more ways than one more than one time to achieve the amount of horror in her gaze. She opened the door to her car and climbed in. I leaned on the car so she couldn't close the door. She glared at me. I rolled my eyes, knowing my expression said "And I care why?" She sighed.

"What Castiel? I need to get home. I have homework in Algebra and English." She refused to look at me. She stuck her keys in her ignition and cranked the car. It started after a minute of protest.

"You should get that looked at Pixie. See ya later." With that I turned and walked away, Demon whimpering about his lost friend. I walked without really looking, I was too lost in thought. I hadn't been this interested in a girl in a long time. Then again none of them were nearly as good looking as Aria, but there was something else about her. The mysterious accent that slightly tainted her voice, the enigmatic statements, her sinfully crafted body, the biting sarcasm… it was everything. I was falling for her. Didn't matter I had only known her a week or two, I knew I was falling for her. People were staring at me as I walked through town. Jeez can't these bastards do something other than stare at me? Honestly what was so damn interesting?! I'm just your average delinquent, iPod plugged in, giant dog on a leash, biker jacket, Winged skulls t-shirt. Wait, nevermind, scratch the shirt and jacket. Those were still on my arm. Oh well, let them stare. I don't give a damn.


	7. Stalkers and Rollercoasters

Aria's P.O.V.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

"Damn you Patrick! Leave me alone you bastard! It's only 6:30 in the morning! Damn you Patrick! Damn you!" Stupid alarm clock. One of these days I'm gonna smash him, I just know it. The morning routine continued as normal; bathroom, brush teeth, zone out while trying to decide which Vintage Corpse t-shirt to wear, check backpack, get keys, go to school. Story of my life. With a sigh I put the keys into the ignition of my Camri. It growled at me for a minute then refused to start. This was gonna be a great day, I could already tell. Pop quiz in every class, running into Amber, Iris and Violette teasing me relentlessly, yup, everything lined up for a perfectly horrible day. Yippee.

"Sleep well Pixie? Or are you even awake yet? I can't really tell…"

I was too tired to even punch him. I just ignored him. He nudged my arm.

"Pixie, I believe you have either a stalker or a well… something. He's waving really excitedly and heading over here…"

My head jerked up, all thoughts of a nap gone. I swiveled my head across the courtyard till I saw who he was talking about. Oh my god, I'm going to die! It's it's it's

KEN!

Shit! If I can't get rid of KEN how the hell am I gonna escape Dimitri?! Ken's the reason I left Greenwich after a week. The creep fell in love with me and I couldn't shake him. I thought I had moved far enough away and I changed my name and my hair and well everything!

"Katie! My love! My dearest darling I have found you! You have no idea how much I missed you!"

Ok this is where Russian physics finally comes in handy. According to the increasing velocity of the incoming object of motion (Ken) he would reach me in about a minute. If I counteracted his velocity with my own inertia (don't move) and then side step, incoming object of motion will then be hindered by- my thoughts were interrupted by the roar of an engine. Castiel yelled to me

"Pixie, it's me or the stalker take your pick!" without another thought I jumped onto the back of Castiel's Harley and held on for dear life.

After about 30 minutes we stopped somewhere. Castiel glanced back at me.

"You alright Pixie?" I didn't respond. I was still holding on for dear life. Not only had I just jumped on a motorcycle without a helmet, with CASTIEL, sped on the highway, missed an algebra test, skipped breakfast, Ken had found me. KEN. The realization was terrifying. No one in Greenwich knew where I was going. I gave the school no change of address, no even knew my name besides Ken, no could have possibly known where I was going, Katie Amelia Revere no longer existed. Not to me, not to Greenwich, not to the U.S. government, no one. Except Ken. If Ken somehow tracked me from Greenwich that means Dimitri could find me. Easily. But now I was Ariana Elaine Summers. End of story. Katie was gone. Period. Castiel's voice brought me back to reality.

"Pixie, I realize you like me, but this kind of attention should be saved for tonight I would think." I blushed scarlet as I realized I was still holding him. My arms were by my sides instantaneously. He laughed. I really, really liked his laugh… Oh my god, stupid brain I thought we had been over this! No friends, no boyfriends, no Winged Skulls, and definitely no Castiel! The hunk in question jumped off the bike and put the gas nozzle into the tank. He smirked at me the whole time. I just fidgeted.

"Thanks for saving me Cherry Blossom. I owe you one." He arched an eyebrow.

"How do you plan to pay Pixie?" The sultry heat in his stormy eyes astounded me. How could he be turned on that quickly? And by me? In the middle of the day, for all the world to see? I hoped he wasn't implying what I thought he was, but I knew he was. I blushed what must have been crimson. His smirk widened.

"No worries babe, I was thinking more along the lines of you pay for the gas, cause we have a ways to go." Now it was my turn to raise a brow. I pulled my backpack off, wondering how it hadn't flown away. I counted out 50 bucks and handed it to Castiel. He inserted the bills and handed me back the change.

"So where we goin?" My answer was a smile and,

"You'll see."

Castiel's P.O.V.

I climbed back on the bike, waiting for Aria's suffocating grip to latch onto my abdomen. Once I knew she was secure I revved the engine. I pulled out of the station and headed south. After a few minutes I felt Aria rest her head on my back. It felt natural, me and her together. I don't care if I sound cheesy and stupid, I liked her. A lot. End of story. But I knew she was hiding stuff from me. Her real name for instance. She told my dog her name was Hann- something, that little creeper stalker geek called her Katie, she claims Ariana, and I call her Pixie. And what the hell is with that damn backpack? What the hell does she have in there? Its bulky but not heavy. I saw what looked to be clothes, which isn't unusual, considering there's no telling when Amber will dump a lunch tray on you, but still. I had never seen her without it. And what was weird was she never kept her books in it. She always carried them… I aimed for exit 593.

I searched for a parking place at the Six Flags park. Of course there wasn't one. So I just pulled up on one of those striped crosswalk spots in between a car and a curb. Illegal, but who cares? I turned off the engine and pocketed the keys. My little pixie removed her arms from me, and looked around.

"The amusement park? Why?" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Amoris is boring, I didn't wanna go to school, you needed to escape a creepy little stalker, and Six Flags is the best kind of amusement park. Has the best roller coasters." I climbed off the bike. Aria didn't move. She was staring at the coasters that towered over the fence.

"Pixie, you had best get off unless you want me to assume you need help, in which case I'm likely to hold onto you all day." She blushed slightly and slipped off the bike.

"That won't be necessary Cherry Blossom." I nearly growled in frustration. That idiotic nickname! And damn it! I wanted to have an excuse to hold onto her all day. Wait, who the hell am I kidding? I'm Castiel Lane Stone, I don't need an excuse. I can do as I please. And I will. And that means claiming little miss Ariana Summers, at least for the day. Wouldn't want some delinquent with a bad attitude and a motorcycle to run off with her…

Aria turned towards me.

"We gonna go Cherry Blossom? Or are we just observing today?" I smirked down at her. I snaked an arm around her slender waist. Sooooooo soft, just made me wonder what the rest of her was like…. parking lot, Stone. You're in a parking lot. Don't be stupid. Doesn't get much more public than a parking lot. Bad Castiel. No. Aria flushed and tried to pry my arm off her waist. I simply tightened my grip slightly. I wasn't hurting her or anything, I'm just a whole lot stronger. I started towards the gate. With a sigh, she surrendered. Castiel, 1. Pixie, 0. Haha I win. I paid for our tickets and we went inside the park. Ok what to ride first… don't wanna start out with anything to scary, want to save that for later, when she's warmed up to me a bit more. We wondered around for a bit then I pulled her in line for the Boomerang. She looked up at me, a bit pale.

"Do we have to? I've never ridden a rollercoaster before."

I gave her what I hope was a reassuring smile.

"Then sweetheart you can't possibly pass up this opportunity. This is the perfect first coaster, not too scary. You have to ride at least 1 before you say you don't like them. And you can't get scared till after. Besides, you have nothing to be afraid of, you've got me." I tacked a smirk onto that last part. She rolled her eyes and punched my arm.

"Idiot."

"Shorty."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Sure you are. You're barely allowed to ride a coaster."

"Yah, barely," her voice dripped with sarcasm, "Yup, I'm barely allowed on. After all, I'm only about two feet taller than the minimum." By now it was time to get on the coaster. We got in the front car, I refused to ride anywhere else. I pulled the safety bar down, the rough plastic scratching my jeans. The attendant came to check the bar was securely in place and wished us a good ride. He started the countdown through the loud speaker. I looked down at Aria. She stared straight ahead. I mentally shrugged. Didn't matter to me.

"3, 2, 1…"

We began to back up the track behind us. Aria took a deep breath and held it the farther up the track went.

"Hey." She opened her eyes, which had been squeezed shut.

"What?" It came out as a squeak. I laughed. I couldn't help it, it was so funny. The unshakable, nothing-ever-affects-me Ariana just squeaked. She glared at me.

"What Castiel?"

"Don't close your eyes, you'll miss-" I was cut off as the train suddenly stopped traveling up and allowed gravity to take over. We sped down the steep hill, through the loop, then the corkscrew, then another loop. We started going up again. I turned to Aria. She looked up at me, a huge smile on her face. I forgot what I was going to say. Her smile stopped my heart. Lust, Castiel, that's all this is supposed to be. Purely lust. Her pretty little body in your bed. That's your goal. Nothing else. I tried to convince myself of this while I waited for the train to go speeding down the track in the opposite direction of the way it had just come.

* * *

I grasped the cups and turned towards the table where Ariana was waiting. I nearly crushed the cups when I saw other guy at the table with her. Clearly flirting. Who the fuck did he think he was, flirting with MY girl?! Damn it Castiel get a hold of yourself! She's not yours. Yet. I continued walking towards the table. All of a sudden a look of pure malice passed over Aria's pretty face. She stood, hauled the dude up by his collar, pulled him close, whispered something, and shoved him back. He toppled over the bench. I nearly laughed. I walked up to the table and set the cups down, snaking both hands around Pixie's please-grab-me-and-don't-let-go waist. She stiffened but said nothing. The jerk had stood up by now,

"You little bitch you're gonna regret that!" He whirled to face her, startled by my presence.

"My girlfriend is going to regret what exactly? And I really would prefer that you keep your ugly ass away from the two of us, I would hate to have to wash your blood out of my shirt later." Aria smiled at him, and gave him a small, triumphant wave. The guy growled but turned and stalked away. Pixie shifted to face me, my arms still wrapped around her, now resting at her lower back. Not quite low enough for me. As I was contemplating making a move on her she spoke.

"Girlfriend, huh? Well what if I don't wanna be your girlfriend? Then what tough guy?" Her purple eyes danced with amusement. But beneath it all, those violet orbs asked a question. One I didn't know. I smirked at her.

"Don't get your hopes up just yet Pixie. There's no way there could ever be an us, you Vintage Corpse fan." She glared at my Winged Skulls shirt.

"Well if nothing else, at least Vintage Corpse has decent looking t-shirts!" she grabbed her cup of Coke and ran off to the nearest coaster. Turns out I was the one who had to take a break from riding, she had us on so many that I was turning green by the fourteenth or fifteenth ride. I shook my head and followed her. Oh well, at least I know she has endurance. She'll need it.

"Ya know Pixie, it's a really, really bad idea to fall asleep on a motorcycle." My only reply was a muffled groan. I twisted around, trying to pry her arms off my abdomen. For being mostly asleep she had a hell of a death grip. It wasn't that hard though.

"Pixie, if you don't wake up and tell me where you live or drive yourself home I'm gonna have to keep you at my place tonight. And I will warn you, I'm not gentleman in my own house." She sat bolt upright with a half panicked look on her face.

"I'm awake, I'm awake I swear!" I chuckled. So she didn't wanna go home with me tonight. But she'll want to one of these days. Real soon. And she'll beg me not to be a gentleman…

Aria's P.O.V.

Castiel waited until I was in my car before he drove away. I looked around the dark parking lot as I started the car. I had been gone all day. With Castiel. At Six Flags. I hadn't had as much fun since before Natasha died. I brushed away tears as I pulled to a stop in front of my apartment complex. Natasha was my only friend. She and I did everything together, when I still lived in Russia. She died in a car accident. But I never believed it was an accident. The day they cut her life support was the day I ran. She had helped me get everything in place, contacted a friend of a friend so I would be allowed into the U.S., helped me pack my life into a suitcase and backpack, and wished me luck. She had gotten in the "accident" after she left my house. I rushed to the hospital, she was in critical condition. There was nothing they could do, after about 3 hours they killed the life support, killing my only friend, the only person who knew what Dimitri was really like, what he did. Dimitri killed my only friend, the only thing in the world that mattered to me at that point. Everything else had been taken from me. My parents, my home, my… yah that too. I slipped the key into the lock and turned. I locked the door behind me and headed to the kitchen. It had been a head on collision, and the other driver came out unscathed, after all, he wasn't even in the car. Tasha suffered major brain damage and most of her bones were broken, but she survived the ride to the hospital despite all odds. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. Dimitri had undoubtedly hired someone to kill her, no matter the complications. I cried for my friend, then went to sleep, praying no nightmares would plague me.


	8. Kidnapped

_Dimitri faced away from me, if I was going to go, now was the time. Holding my breath I slipped from between the sheets. I searched in the darkness for my clothes. Luckily this time he had wanted to be "gentle". He hadn't ripped my clothes, and it didn't hurt as bad. Despite the reprieve from normally robust activity, I still ached all over. It didn't matter he had done it almost every night for almost 3 months straight, my body could never adjust to him. I pulled my clothes on as silently as I could, and slipped out the door. I held my ear to the door just to make sure he wasn't awake yet. I heard nothing on the other side, so I ran down the stairs and through the kitchen, stopping only to pull on my combat boots. I grabbed my jacket and backpack and ran out into the snow. I just had to make it through the woods and grab a car. I measured my pace, and kept my eyes open for wolves. Now was their prime tracking time. I heard a howl that was much to close for comfort. I looked around for a climbable tree. The weak winter moon shed little light, and I started to panic. I looked all around, no good trees. The howl was closer this time, and followed by two others, in different directions. I was surrounded. I turned around warily, waiting for the eyes to appear. Three glowing green sets stared back at me. I took a step back and they came for me._

I woke up in a cold sweat, crying. My nightmare changed every time, but I always ended up either dead or back in Dimitri's brutal arms. There had never really been wolves, Dimitri never got me back, and I had escaped to America, where I now stayed. But never in one place for too long. That was reality. I glanced at the clock, 4:30. If I got up now I could watch the sun rise in the park. I knew sleep would evade me even if I stayed in bed. I could never go back to sleep after a nightmare. Which was every night. I normally just stayed in bed because it was normally around 2 or 3 when I woke up. I jumped in the shower, letting the hot water ease the tension in my muscles and the steam clear my head. The depressing cloud still hung over my head, but not as dark now. Perhaps by the time the sun rose my spirits would have too.

Well if it wasn't raining, then maybe I would have watched the sun rise. But seeing as how it was wet, I didn't get the luxury. So I settled for a nap. Patrick beeped at me around 6:30 or so. I yelled at him just like every other morning. That damn clock is going to be destroyed one of these days, I swear it.

I kept my eyes peeled for Ken as I walked into the school. I was so busy looking for creepy little stalkers that I wasn't watching for the blonde wall that blocked my path. I ran smack into him. Luckily I wasn't going to fast, so neither of us fell, though I started to topple. Strong arms reached out and grabbed mine, preventing a fall. I looked up and saw blonde, my mind filling with terror, before realizing it was Nathaniel. I jerked away from him, and slammed into a locker instead. Shock registered on his face. He looked SO much like Dimitri, and I had been thinking about him all last night… I ran off before he could say anything, and ran straight into Ken.

"KATIE!" he hugged my waist. His head only came up to a very, very awkward position. I pried him off and held him at a distance. His little puppy dog face smiled back at me.

"Oh Katie I missed you so much! Going two months without seeing you was torture! But now I found you and-"

"Listen kid, I don't know who you are or why in the hell you're following me and calling me Katie, but I'm not whoever you think I am. Got it?" I held my little can of mace right above the frames of his glasses. Fear passed over his features. God, what a wimp. I let go of him and backed away a bit. The little freak started towards me again. I held up my can of mace as a warning.

"But Katie, I know it's you! Just because you dyed your hair and got contacts doesn't mean you're a different person! I can recognize your beautiful voice anywhere! That accent is so distinct I'll never forget it!"

I froze. Surely that small detail wasn't enough to make someone be able to recognize me was it? Ken started towards me again. I turned and fled to the courtyard. That yappy little dude didn't look like the type that could climb a tree. If I could get up there then I was home free. I was so glad I had been possessed to wear jeans and a hoodie today. It was still raining, but I didn't care. I sprinted through the courtyard. I jumped on the bench then up into the tree. Ken rounded the corner right as I got settled. Ken ran up and looked around.

"Hey, I'm looking for a girl with blonde hair and purple eyes, have you seen her?" I knew Ken's squeaky voice anywhere. But who the hell was he talking to?

"No, now get out of here you little pipsqueak, or I'll make sure you're shorter than you already are." Ken scrambled away. Castiel looked up and squinted. Looking for me no doubt. So long as I don't- water rained down on his head- move. Expletives came in a long stream from below me.

"Pixie, I swear one of these days I'm going to get a hold of that pretty little neck of yours and it won't be fun!" I jumped down and landed next to him. He was soaking wet. It was really hot. I blushed as my thoughts went south. Literally. Some things are just better done when soaked from head to toe….

"Are you proud of yourself? I was dry until you showered the water content of an entire tree on me!" He looked downright pissed. It was funny.

"Come on Cherry Blossom, we have Government II 1st period. You'll dry off better if you're not in the rain you idiot, now come on." I pulled my long hair into a bun and pulled the hood over it. Castiel muttered and cursed school, me for getting him wet, me for making him go to class, mainly just me I guess. Oh well, I don't really care. Do I? Well even if I secretly I did it didn't matter, I'm not allowed to care. Aw hell who am I kidding I care a lot. I've never had a boyfriend and Castiel seems a wonderful place to start. Someone just like me. Only he's soaking wet and I'm not. Mwahaha.

* * *

The next two days passed without interest. Nothing much happened, except a couple run-ins with the devil's sister. Friday rolled around all too quickly for my taste. With Violette, Iris, and Castiel smirking at me every second of the day I felt trapped. Maybe now was a good time to go house hunting in Montana. I liked Montana when I lived there last year. Was quiet. I'll have to move soon anyway, why not find somewhere comfortable to go? The bell rang for 7th period, my elective. Home Ec. Like I needed that. Because I was going to be managing a home for someone other than myself. The only person who would fit in that category is Dimitri, and there's no way in hell I'm letting him find me so good luck with that. I pushed open the doors to the classroom with a sigh, I hated this class. Auntie, the teacher, called me over to her desk. Auntie required everyone in the school with the exception of the principle, to call her Auntie. She was weird. End of story. Wore fairy wings to school on a regular basis. Why couldn't I have moved to a normal town? Or a city? Chicago was nice, until Dimitri nearly found me. But that's sorta beside the point.

"Aria, darling, dear, sweetheart, baby, I really need you to be on time to class honey, and I need to stop showing me up with your baking skills you hear?" I couldn't help but smile, Auntie couldn't bake to save her life. But I can. I can cook too. But again beside the point. Auntie got the class started and I started trying to figure out some way to feign illness before the class was out. The bell rang. Too late. Damn. Well at least my "date" with Castiel isn't until tomorrow.

* * *

Or so I thought. I had just started up my little Camri when Castiel walked up with his signature smirk. Only this time the mischief in the smirk was reflected in his eyes. This can't be good… He knocked on the window, signaling me to roll it down. Once I had he said,

"Unlock the car Pixie, I'm coming with you." The shock must have been good, because he chuckled. "Well fine, if you can't then I will." He reached through the open window and pressed the unlock button. The doors clicked and he retracted himself from the window. Cherry Blossom walked around and got in the passenger side. He turned himself in the seat to look at me.

"We have some place to be by 8, it takes 5 hours to get there and it's 3:30 already. Wanna get a move on? We have to stop at my house on the way out. Come on Pixie let's go."

I realized there was absolutely no point in arguing with him, so I just started home. I grabbed my backpack and climbed out of the car. I unlocked the door and walked in without a word, there was nothing to say.

"Black, and blue… Interesting color scheme Pixie… Didn't have you down as the type to be gothic…"

"I'm not a goth you asshole. Now what do I need to get?"

"Just whatever you need for the weekend. We're not coming back till Monday, unless you want to be subjected to Iris and Violette." I turned to stare at him, my silent question "What the hell are you planning?" hanging in the air. With a growl I stalked to my bedroom, to pack my other backpack. Castiel followed me, much to my disgust.

"Invading my house I can deal with, but my bedroom is off limits got it Cherry Blossom? Get the hell out. Now." I stopped looking for my favorite shorts long enough to see if he was going to heed my warning. He just lounged on the bed, looking around. His eyes locked on mine and he smirked. I just glared. Turn to ash already you bastard! Better men have caught flames when I've given them this look! Ugh such a mule. I jerked a drawer out, looking for something to wear that wouldn't make me end up somewhere I'd regret. Damn why did the most comfortable pjs have to be skimpy?! Oh well, not like we're sleeping in the same room. At least, we had better not be.

"I had no idea that you felt so strongly about your personal space Pixie."

"I don't like to be touched, and I don't like people getting too close to me. Period."

I glanced at him as I headed to the bathroom to get my toothbrush. I was about halfway there when I felt hands around my waist. I froze, I hated being sneaked up on, it reminded me of Dimitri way too much. The most painful experiences normally started with being snatched and something being whispered. A smoky voice that had become all too familiar breathed into my ear,

"Well I think I'll just have to change that. When I'm through with you, you'll be begging to be touched, and you'll want me close all the time." A shiver of electric excitement snaked down my spine and through every nerve ending. Shit. I thought I had learned my lesson. Apparently not. I struggled to find my voice. My face was burning, that much I knew. Cassy pressed a kiss beneath my ear and let go of me, heading back into the living room. I stood there for a minute longer, trying to convince myself that I didn't want any part of Castiel. _You're right, you don't want any part of him. You want ALL of him. That body begs for an experienced touch._ Oh my god you freaking brain what the fucking hell is wrong with you?! And why the hell did it have to be right?!

* * *

I drove back to the school so Castiel could get his motorcycle. He beckoned me to join him, and I reminded myself it was Cherry Blossom or Iris. I hopped on the back of the bike without protest. We stopped at his house so that he could grab his stuff and feed Demon. The Belgian Shepard was extremely wound up at the sight of me, and he knocked over the kitchen table, shattering an empty vase. Castiel ordered me out of the house then, so he could deal with Demon and clean up the glass. When he came out again he was frowning. He got on the bike and waited for me to join him.

"Come on Pixie, we're late. Get on the bike. Now." Punctual. Got it. Doesn't like it when dog misbehaves. Note to self, bring dog sedative next time visit Castiel's house. Perhaps human as well, I could use with a little peace from the cherry head in front of me. We had been driving for a couple of hours now, and I was starting to get stiff. Luckily he pulled off the highway about then, and headed for a gas station. Castiel expertly maneuvered the Harley through the cars to an open pump. I managed to pry my arms off of him, they were so stiff from being in the same position for the past three hours. I headed inside to buy a drink and go to the restroom. I walked out a few minutes later and headed back towards Castiel. He took the bottle of Coke I handed him with a kind of thanks. Or at least I think that's what it was. I mentally shrugged. I didn't care.

"How much farther are we going? And where are we going? You still haven't told me." I earned myself a smirk and wink, but no answers. Before I could cuss him out for leaving me in suspense he ran off towards the station's building, probably using the excuse of the bathroom to escape my interrogation. With a sigh, I paced in front of the bike. No more sitting, not yet. I looked around, trying to figure out where we were. There were no signs indicating where we were, and no one else was even around. The air smelled salty, beneath the scent of gasoline anyway. Salt? The beach maybe? Why would Castiel take me to the beach? And for a whole weekend? I shook my head, trying to clear it of the unsolved riddles floating around begging for attention. Castiel had returned now, and he stretched before climbing back on.

"Did you happen to pack a swimsuit?"

"Excuse me?" He sighed and rolled his stormy grey eyes at me.

"Ya know, the thing you swim in? Did you bring one?" I shook my head, I didn't even own a swimsuit.

"No?" he smiled at this. Uh-oh. Ok so we were going to the beach. But I didn't have a swimsuit. No way in hell was I getting in the water without a swimsuit. That bastard planned this. I have no idea how, but he did. I know it. I crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at him.

"What are you implying Cherry Blossom?" The smile momentarily disappeared at his nickname, but soon returned.

"You, Pixie, have a dirty mind. I was only asking so I would know if we needed to stop and get you one, since I didn't tell you where we were going. But if you don't want to stop and get one, that is more than alright with me. But if you do, then get on doll." I blushed crimson as I climbed on behind him.

"You planned this." I stated simply. I could feel him laughing in front of me.

"And I swear if you don't stop somewhere I will hitchhike all the way back to Amoris before I let you get me in the water." His laughter increased as we sped through the little seaside town. We stopped in front of little store that only sold bathing suits. I hopped off the bike, not bothering to look and see if he was following, I knew he was. I hoped that my aura radiated hatred and malice, enough to ward anyone away. My expression must have looked the same, because the smiling sales lady that had started towards me quickly retreated. I looked around, nothing but bikinis in sight. Great. Not only did I have to show skin, I had to show a lot of skin. In front of Castiel. Shit. _Previews are always nice though, and they often encourage people to desire to see more…_ bad brain. Very, very bad teenage girl hormonal brain. Bad. No. Bad brain. I glared at the selection of skimpy swimsuits as Castiel walked up. He pulled a suit off a nearby rack and smiled.

"Try this one on." I took one look at the black and red swimsuit and hauled off and punched him. Only in the arm, but it had better leave a bruise. It ought to. He bit his lip to keep the expletives at bay. "Come on Pixie, I'm buying. And I'm your ride. And you owe me for rescuing you from the people who call themselves your friends." I had no valid comeback to the last part.

"Fine." I ground out as I grabbed the swimsuit from him. I'm gonna kill him. He may be hotter than hell itself, but I was loosing my patience. And he was a Winged Skulls fan. That was reason enough to kill him, me being a Vintage Corpse girl all the way. After making certain the dressing room door was locked, I began pulling off my clothes. I stared at my reflection. The swimsuit looked amazing, in all honesty. But it didn't hide my scar. A thin, ragged line that ran from my upper left side down to the hip. Dimitri's doing. One of his more painful ways of claiming. As if everything else wasn't enough.

"Alright Pixie come out already, I know you're done." Castiel's voice brought me back to reality. I glanced at my reflection again, deciding there was no way I was going to let Castiel see me like this.

"Huh-uh."

"What was that?"

"I said no, Castiel. I'm not coming out in this thing." I could just hear the smirk in his voice as he said,

"Well, either you come out, or I'm coming in. Whichever you prefer." Blushing scarlet, I peeked out the door. He was leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking very pleased with himself. I stepped out fully, revealing myself for the intense scrutiny awaiting me in his slate grey eyes. He smiled as his eyes roamed my half covered form. It wasn't a skimpy suit, but it was still a bikini, which prevented any reasonable coverage in my opinion. His smile faded and was replaced by a frown as he finally noticed the scar. I crossed my arms, his attention drawn to the movement. Just as I hoped.

"I like it. Toss it over the door. I'll pay while you change back. Then we'll go." I proceeded into the dressing room, and removed the bathing suit. I tossed it over the door as instructed and pulled my clothes back on. As promised, he had the bikini in a bag by the time I exited the changing room. We left the little store and climbed back on his bike.

"I forgot to tell you, you're a really good riding partner. Most people don't know when to lean into a turn and when to not. Thought I'd mention it." I failed to see the relevance of the statement and remained silent. My dark cloud had found me again, I had left it in Amoris. But thoughts of Dimitri plagued me again at the sight of that scar. And it was clear he was thinking about it too. Curiosity would get the better of him soon enough, and I'd have to think of some way to dodge an explanation. Great. We drove down the road right next to the beach for a few minutes, and then stopped in front of a cute little beach house on what looked to be a private beach. Castiel hopped off and grabbed me off the bike before I could get off myself.

"Castiel Stone put me down this instant or I swear you won't make it through the weekend!" Chuckling he set me down and grabbed our backpacks and the bag containing my swimsuit and went to the door. He grabbed a key from the top of the frame and let himself in. I followed, opting to go inside rather than stand out in the open. The little house was, well, little. A little living room with a couch and tv, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two little bedrooms. I made my way back to the kitchen, where Cherry was hunting for something.

"Whatchya lookin' for Cherry Blossom?" Castiel hit his head on the cabinet he was looking through. I giggled, pain was funny. Especially pain from a Winged Skulls fan. Hehe. Uh-oh. The heat in his eyes made me back up, only to be trapped by a cabinet. Castiel walked over and placed his arms on either side of me, boxing me in. There was no escape, unless I sunk to the floor and slipped in between him and the cabinet. It wouldn't be hard. I'm flexible. Castiel gazed down at me, the sultry heat in his eyes making my butterflies go crazy. Was he going to kiss me? Oh well, back to the problem at hand. Getting away. Castiel leaned in, preventing my only escape route. Damn. His face was inches from mine, we were so close I could smell his mint shampoo. I looked from the violently heated storm of his eyes to his lips then back again, licking my own instinctively. His eyes caught the movement and he removed the last of the distance between us. He leaned in and-

"Oh come on, let us at least meet her before you defile her innocence Castiel." He sighed and pulled away from me, disappointment shining in his eyes, then irritation. He turned to the speaker, a buff blonde guy with tattoos all over his arms. Pretty good looking, when Castiel wasn't standing next to him. There were two others as well. Who were these people? The blonde smiled at me and said

"Hey babe. I'm Dakota, but you can call me Dake. This is Dajan," he gestured to a dark skinned guy to his left. Dajan was tall and lanky, no doubt a basketball player. The other guy cut in. He was an odd one, Victorian era clothes, silver hair with black tips, mismatched eyes. He looked strangely familiar, but I couldn't place it. Probably just my head getting the better of me.

"Greetings, milady. I am Lysander. Pleased to make your acquaintance Miss-?" He took my hand and pressed a soft kiss to the back of it. Ok, I'll admit, I melted a bit. The guy was hot, and he certainly knew how to make an impression.

"Aria." He looked up at me, something clearly piquing his interest. The name perhaps? Maybe he wondered if I could sing. Nope. Or dance for that matter. I was good at gymnastics, that and sneaking were about all I could do.

"Your accent, are you Russian?" I blinked, shocked. How in the hell had he figured it out right off? And after only one word?! Yes people figured out I had an accent, but no one ever figured out I was Russian. Note to self, super cute Victorian guy is too smart, will figure out everything if not avoided.

"Yes, originally. I moved here when I was about 15 or so, but could never quite shake the accent." Castiel stood at a slight distance, watching my interaction with the guys. Was this a test or something? Whatever, I'm moving after Christmas anyway. Dake cut in on our conversation.

"Hey guys, can you go talk in the living room or something? I'm starving and everyone is in the way of the pantry." I laughed and vacated the area, everyone but Dake and Castiel following. I could hear them talking but dismissed it, didn't matter. Did it? Lysander watched me closely, and Dajan spoke up.

"So Aria, you go to Sweet Amoris right?" I nodded.

"Cool. So why haven't we seen you around before? Dake, Lysander and I all go there too. Never seen you before. How come?" I shrugged before responding,

"I'm not really sure. Whenever I haven't been kidnapped by Castiel or running away from stalkers, I'm a pretty regular student." Dajan laughed, and Lysander quirked a smile. I had a feeling Lysander was one of those serious, melancholy types. Good, that could be my excuse to stay away from him. Castiel and Dake joined us, Castiel sitting next to me and placing his arm around my shoulders. Uh, no. I was not going to be "claimed" by Castiel. I wasn't his, and I wasn't ever going to be. I couldn't ever be anyone's, except Dimitri, which was the whole reason I was in this mess. I reached up and moved his arm back to where it belonged. Not on me. Silence suddenly permeated the room. Then laughter. Dajan and Dake were literally rolling on the floor and Lysander was clutching his sides trying to keep from falling over. Castiel glared at them all, and me too for that matter.

"What? I'm not yours, and I don't like being touched remember? Honestly. I don't know why they're laughing. Not my problem." He glared harder. I rolled my eyes. After another few minutes the guys finally caught their breathes, took one look at Castiel and started all over again. I decided to snoop in the kitchen, maybe I could cook something. I had a feeling I'd starve if any of them tried to cook. Not much in the pantry, or fridge. I could make grilled chicken and mashed potatoes. That was about it. I'd do that whenever they got hungry. Castiel poked his head in.

"Come on Pixie, we're going swimming. You can get dressed now or Dake has threatened to dress you himself." I rolled my eyes but followed him back anyways. Everyone else had disappeared. Warily, I followed Castiel to the last bedroom, where my stuff was. And his too, apparently. I heard the lock click behind me and whirled around to face him. He smiled evilly. The heat in his gaze caused panic to rise in my throat. Upon seeing my expression he laughed.

"I told you Pixie, I'm not going to do anything until you ask me to. I was only locking it so we could change. Dake is the type to barge in on anything, no matter how private." I just looked at him warily. I have trust issues. And for good reasons.

"Well Pixie? You gonna change or not?" I blushed and shot back

"Not with you standing there staring at me! It's bad enough having to wear this around a whole bunch of guys, much less be watched getting in it!" He chuckled and turned around.

"Ok I'm not looking, I promise."

Yah right. I turned too, just for good measure. I pulled off my shirt and glanced to make sure he wasn't peeking. He was searching for his swim trunks. I changed from my bra to the bikini top as quickly as I could. I pulled off my shorts and looked again to see if he was peeking. Real smart move on my part. I got a good look at his amazing backside. I flamed crimson and turned back around. That was definitely going to stick. _Oh well, not like it was a bad view…_ said the less careful side of my brain. I can only ask one question to this entire situation.

Why me?

* * *

I sat on the sand while all the guys ran for the water. None of them had said anything about the scar, but I knew they kept sneaking glances at it. Lysander had acted weird when he saw it. He stared for a moment, then brought his eyes to mine, revealing hostility. It was weird because, well, hostility? I had a scar so what? I was so lost in thought I didn't see Castiel come round behind me. He grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder. I screamed when he picked me up, and fought with all my strength. It was a natural reaction after what had happened to me.

"Castiel Lane Stone put me down damn you!"

"Alright Pixie you asked for it!" He dropped me into the freezing sea. I swam up coughing and sputtering. I hated salt water. I parted my hair so I could stare at him through my little curtain.

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You."

"Not if you can't find me Pixie. Not if you can't find me." He disappeared beneath the waves. I knew exactly what he was about to do, so I headed for the shore as fast as I could. I was so glad I swam once a week to keep in shape in case I needed it. Something grabbed my ankle and I took a deep breath before being pulled under. I was swallowed by the water, and I opened my eyes, expecting to see a devil with red hair swirling around him, only to see a blonde with a huge grin. I glared at him and started up again. He pulled me back down though, and pointed to the right. Castiel's feet moved back and forth, begging to be grabbed. I arched an eyebrow asking Dake to join me. We swam right beneath Castiel, and Dake waved his hand in front of him, bidding me to do the honors. We each grabbed an ankle and tugged. Castiel's shocked facial expression was priceless. I started drowning, because I was laughing underwater. I swam up as fast as I could and spit out sea water. Then laughed some more. Dake surfaced next to me, and repeated the same steps as me. Then we were each pulled under again. Castiel looked pleased with himself, until Dakota bowled into him. They were wrestling underwater. What morons. I rolled my eyes and broke the surface again. The sun was setting now, turning the water around me to blood. Eek. Gotta get out of that. I swam for shore, not really caring if Castiel and Dake drowned themselves. I walked out of the water, wringing out my hair. Dajan and Lysander had built a little bonfire, and were watching Castiel and Dake try to kill each other. I joined them, sitting a little ways away. Dajan scooted next to me, and started a conversation of sorts

"Whatchya wanna bet that Dake wins?" I thought on it a second.

"A meal."

"Huh?" He looked at me like I was crazy. I just gave him half a smile, I never fully smiled so that was the best he was gonna get.

"You heard me. A meal. You cook if Castiel wins, I cook if Dake wins."

"In that case he had better, because I burn water." I laughed. Castiel and Dake continued to try to drown each other. Castiel finally swam to shore, copping out. I'd have to cook tonight. Oh well.

"YES! Yah go Dake woo-hoo! Well Aria I hope you can cook!" I rolled my eyes at him. Castiel just swiveled his head between us then shrugged, earning another laugh from Dajan. I headed inside, I needed to get to work if I was going to feed four teenage guys.


	9. Worries

Lysander's P.O.V.

"Castiel." My red-headed friend looked up at me from across the fire. Everyone else had gone inside, following the smell of Aria's cooking.

"Yah?"

"Aria, how long have you known her?"

"I dunno, a month or so. Why?"

"No reason. What are your plans with her Castiel? And don't tell me you haven't got any. Just tell me honestly, are you with her for a relationship or just a couple of sleepless nights?" Castiel blinked. He knew I was blunt but I think even that was a bit much. He was silent for a minute.

"I honestly don't know Lys. It started out for her looks, not going to lie, but now, that's not even important. I just like being around her. I thinking I'm falling for her."

Now it was my turn to blink. Castiel, falling in love? Oooooooookay. Unexpected. Now what? How do you tell your best friend to stay away from the person they're falling in love with? Aria hadn't always been Aria, I was sure of it. Two years ago she had been Maria De Vasquez from Orange, Texas. I knew because that's where I used to live. She had green hair, and mismatched eyes, just like mine. One green, and one yellow. That was the only reason I remembered her. I had never met anyone with the same eyes as me. Her accent had always stuck with me too. It was odd, nothing I had ever heard before, until a Russian guy showed up about 2 months after she left, asking about a girl her age. Their accents were the same. Maybe that guy had been looking for her? And that scar? Kinda hard to mistake someone when they had a scar that matched up exactly with someone else's scar… But back to the problem at hand. Castiel + Aria = ?

Disaster? Heart-break? Danger? All of the above? I didn't want to see my best friend get his heart broken again, not like it had with Elaina. When Elaina chose Nathaniel over Castiel, he had nearly given up. That's when we started the band. If Aria was running from something, getting involved with Castiel could only hurt them both.

"Castiel, I really think that-" he was gone. I hadn't noticed him go inside, I was too busy remembering things. Oh well. I could hope they didn't get themselves in trouble, but not much else. Castiel would never listen if I tried to tell him Aria wasn't really Aria, but someone else. And Aria didn't really seem to intentionally be with Castiel, so telling her to stay away would simply be pointless. I extinguished the embers of our fire as the last rays of the drowning sun were thrown across the wet sand. I pulled on my shirt and dusted off my feet as I entered my older brother's beach house.


	10. Sweet Dreams

Aria's P.O.V.

I knew I would have to make breakfast in the morning. The guys ate everything I cooked. Everything. I didn't have to rinse anything before it went in the dishwasher. That's how much they ate. I headed into the living room, where everyone was lounging.

"So. Full. Ughhhhh!" Dajan had really packed it away at dinner. I giggled, it was funny to see all four of them out of commission because of how much they ate. If anyone knew how to gorge themselves, it was these four.

"Alright guys, now what? Kitchen's clean, you clearly don't want to do anything that requires moving, so what are we gonna do?" No one said anything, and Dajan just moaned.

"I am stupid. I have a game Monday! How the hell am I supposed to practice this weekend if I clogged my arteries?!" I laughed. So did Dake and Castiel. Lysander just shook his head then said,

"I believe that everyone should go to bed. We have to rehearse tomorrow. And I want to swim again so we need to rest. Everyone go to bed." Dake stood and stretched.

"I assume that I'm bunking with you then Lysander? Alright everyone good night." He headed down the hallway. I turned to Castiel.

"Bunking? You guys have to double bunk while you're here? Isn't there enough room?" Castiel shook his head.

"Fraid not sweetheart. And Dajan always gets the couch, he's the longest thing here, and the couch is the only thing that will hold him." So that meant that…

"No."

"No what?"

"You know what. I won't. One of us is sleeping on the floor." Castiel rolled his eyes at me, and grabbed my arm, and drug me down the hallway and into the last bedroom. He locked the door. Again. No way was he going to have his way with me. And no way was I sleeping with him. He was the kind to say I had slept with him implying screwing him, not actually just sleeping. Well, I wasn't going to get caught in that situation nuh-uh.

* * *

I grabbed the blanket off the chair in the corner to wrap around myself. I was not going to let Castiel see what I slept in. No way. Castiel slept in pants. Nothing else. Just pants. His abs were amazing. I hoped I wasn't drooling. God, he was so fucking hot. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no NO. We are not going there do you hear me brain? Not going there. _Too late_. Some rather interesting thoughts concerning my apparel, or lack thereof popped into my head. Castiel turned to face me. He raised an eyebrow at the blanket. I didn't say anything.

"Well Pixie, which side do you want?"

"Both or neither. One of us is sleeping on the floor. If you won't I will, and I won't have a problem with it either." He sighed.

"Neither of us is sleeping on the floor Pixie. Now pick a side or I'll pick one for you." I crossed my arms and shook my head. I was not sleeping with him. I wouldn't do it. His eyes darkened from storm grey to slate at my stubbornness. Well fine, I don't give a damn. After all, its not like he's gonna-

He grabbed me and tossed me on the bed. He walked over and turned off the light, then stuffed me under the covers with him. I had lost the blanket in being pulled into the covers, so now there was nothing between me and Castiel except my thin, silky little nightgown. Yes I said nightgown. Victoria's Secret has the most wonderful pajamas. So comfortable. And they're not all sluty. This one wasn't. Sure it was short and low cut and thin and silky, but it wasn't lacy, or anything that would REALLY turn a guy on…. I hoped. _Do you really? Think about this Aria, Castiel. In bed. With you. He only has pants you only have a nightgown… not to hard to imagine those things away is it?_ Ok brain, that is it! No more thoughts about crimson-headed Winged Skulls fan, got it? I mean it this time. The man in question grabbed my waist and pulled me against his hard body. God those abs! His hardness complimented my softness in all the right ways, in all the right places. I shivered, his skin was cold, having been running around without a shirt most of the night. But I didn't only shiver because of that. Oh, no, I couldn't possibly be that lucky. Nope. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, preventing my movement. The other made its way under my pillow, and his head rested in the crevice of my shoulder. His legs tangled with mine. Nope, no way I was getting out of this one. _You don't want to and you know it_. Shut up brain. Just shut up. This felt so good, it should have been illegal. Oh wait it was, and was a felony if I'm not mistaken. Statutory I believe it's called. I remained stiff against him, hoping eventually he would let go. No such luck.

"You have a pillow, use it. Get off me right now." He yawned.

"I'd really rather not. You're much, much softer than any pillow. Would you relax a bit? You're going to give yourself muscle stiffness from staying so rigid." His left arm moved out from under my pillow to stroke my hair. Despite myself, I was softening beneath his touch. So gentle, so not Castiel. He snuggled his head more into the curve of my neck, trying to get more comfortable. Good, maybe if he can't get comfortable he'll use the pillow. Nope. Of course not. Well I might as well get used to it, I was going to be sleeping like this for at least another night beside this one. Speaking of getting used to it, how was I going to explain my nightmare? Every single night, I had that nightmare. Sometimes I woke up screaming, others crying, and others just waking up. How on earth would I explain a random scream in the middle of the night? Well, hopefully they wouldn't pry, and would just let me go back to sleep. I drifted into unconsciousness while trying to think up excuses I would need later.

Castiel's P.O.V.

Aria finally loosened up, and relaxed against me. She felt so natural, her curves fitting into me just the right way. She was a little tall to say two halves of a whole, but I didn't mind. Funny, her being too tall to say we were perfect for each other, since I always called her Pixie… I kept stroking her hair, even after she had gone to sleep. She looked so defenseless while asleep, all the fire gone from her face. I thought about my conversation with Lysander earlier. Did I mean what I had said? About not caring about just fucking her a few times then moving on? I looked at her sleeping form again. Yes, I had meant it. It was an oddly euphoric feeling, being in love. I knew this was going to hurt me in so many ways when she left, but for now, I was going to hold onto her as long as I could. At least I wouldn't have to worry about her running off with Nathaniel, not like Elaina. Come to think of it, those two were exact opposites, Elaina and Aria. Huh. Oh well. I loosened my grip on Aria a bit, now that she was asleep. She turned over, and snuggled up to me, mumbling something. My head now rested on her pillow and my chin on her head. My arms wrapped themselves around her again, almost of their own accord. Damn it. Lovestruck. Great, just great. I was never going to hear the end of this from the guys, I just knew it. Especially not Dake. That guy never forgot a thing when it came to relationship screw-ups or successes. Being the ladies man he was, wasn't surprising. I drifted to sleep thinking of ways to keep her close over the next couple weeks. Christmas was coming up… yah Christmas. Perfect excuse.

Aria's P.O.V.

I awoke to sunlight streaming through the blinds of my bedroom. I blinked and looked around. Wait. Not my bedroom. And what was I sleeping on? I glanced down and then at the room again. Then did a double take. I was in Lysander's older brother's beach house. And I was sleeping on Castiel. Castiel was sleeping on the bed, but somehow I ended up on top of him. Ok, embarrassing. I wiggled my way off him and back to the softness of the bed. With a groan, Castiel rolled over and buried his head in the curve of my neck again. His arms wrapped around me again and I sighed. So much for getting breakfast started early. The clock on the nightstand read 8:26 a.m. wait, a.m.? I slept the whole night? Shock ran through my whole body. For the first time since the night I escaped Russia, I didn't have a nightmare. Because of Castiel.


	11. Shark Fins and Memories

"Wow… just….. wow. You guys are amazing!" Castiel dropped next to me on the couch, and Dajan took the other side. Lysander and Dake leaned against the wall. The boys had just played their hearts out for me. Well I mean they were only practicing, but it seemed that way. Lysander had a beautiful voice, Castiel could play with the best of them, Dake was a pro at the drums, and Dajan could play the piano wonderfully.

"Dajan, I never would have pegged you as a pianist…" My only response was a groan.

"Why does everyone always say that? Sure, I'm a jock, but does that really mean I have to be stupid? Or that I can't have other hobbies? I mean honestly I could-" he was cut off by Lysander,

"Quickly everyone, to the water, before our basketball star decides to give us a full out lecture on how we shouldn't make assumptions or judge books by their covers and such nonsense." At the end of his sentence he ran outside. Dake and Castiel followed, me being drug by the Winged Skulls idiot. I stopped at the edge, or at least tried to. Castiel turned, wickedness shining in his storm cloud eyes.

"Well now Pixie, you have two choices. Let me have my way, and you come in the water, or try to fight me and me call for backup. Your choice. But I warn you, the guys won't play nice just cause you're smaller. If anything, they'll use it against you. We play dirty." He winked to punctuate his sentence. I felt a shiver work its way down my spine. Bad hormones. I guess I stood there thinking a second too long, because the next thing I knew Castiel had slung me over his shoulder as he waded into the surf.

"Castiel put me down you bastard! I don't wanna get wet! I wanna sit in the sun, not be drowned!" He laughed, but refused to comply to my wishes. I could see Dajan on the shore, laughing at my predicament. I flipped him off, showing him just what I thought about him at the time. He simply fell to the ground, laughing all the harder. Castiel dropped me, and I came up steaming. He just smiled that little smile that made me melt on the inside. No, bad insides. Stop melting. Stop it. I glared at him, imagining him being swallowed by a whale, or eaten by a shark. No shark fins appeared however, so I guess all that time meditating asking for the favor of Karma was wasted, they still didn't seem to like me.

Our water war commenced then, and soon it was the whole band against me. I swam for the shore, trying to avoid another near drowning from Dajan, his excuse being my flipping him off earlier. I finally managed to make it without being captured by one of the band members. I collapsed on the sand, closing my eyes. I heard something thud next to me, and opened one eye. Castiel's amazing abs were sitting right next to me. Oh well, there was no point in denying his beauty any longer. Stupid brain.

* * *

The day continued much like that for the next couple of hours. After we finally vacated the sea, everyone was dog tired again. Castiel and I went for a walk under the half moon after the band went to bed. He tried to get some of my past out of me, but to no avail. When I tried to ask about his family he just stared straight ahead and ignored me, leading me back to Leigh's beach house. He didn't say anything else to me that night, and I tried to convince myself I didn't care. _You care a lot you stupid Russian runaway, you want him to talk to you. And a lot of other things too, but we need him to speak to us first._ The sleeping arrangements were the same as the night before, but he stayed on his side of the bed and didn't touch me. The logical part of my brain was relieved, but my body was the opposite. Sleep evaded me for a long while, and when it finally came, it was restless. My nightmare returned, and I woke up in a cold sweat. I should have known better than to think my nightmare would stay away. Castiel wasn't in bed. I got up, and went for a walk. The pale moonlight shed a soft glow on Castiel, his fiery hair reduced to a faint ember, and his spirit seemingly the same way. I sat down next to him, not saying anything. He didn't acknowledge my presence, except for a side long glance. We sat there for minutes, hours. Just listening to the sound of the waves. Then he spoke.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Me either." We lapsed into silence once again. There was no telling what time it was. Didn't really matter. The tide started to come in, just a little while and we'd be sitting in ocean water. Oh well. I didn't care. Castiel continued to stare at the moon bathed waves and began,

"Earlier, when you asked about my parents, I-…. I didn't want to talk about them. I still don't. But I'm going to anyway."

"Castiel you don't have to-" he cut me off with a glare.

"No, now you've got me thinking about it, so you're gonna sit here and listen to my little sob story cause you asked for it!" I blinked. I knew Castiel had a temper, but I didn't ever see it. Sure he had a vocabulary that would make any self respecting sailor blush, but he'd never yelled at anyone… he took a deep breath, and I expected him to apologize and start again. He didn't. He just started again. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. Typical male, refusing to admit to being stupid.

"My parents are never around. They don't care. In short, I was a mistake, but they didn't even care enough to abort me or set me up for adoption. I was raised from the cradle by my nanny, a sweet little German lady. Ironic no? The only person who's ever cared about me was a German nanny. And Elaina, but we'll talk about her later. Anyway, my parents have never taken an interest in me. I know hardly anything about them, except that they're both inconsiderate, and heartless. Well, Petra, she was the nanny, Petra really loved me. She picked me up from school everyday since I was 4, until I was 8. Four years, that woman devoted her whole life to me. I was her baby, and she was my mom. She did everything with me, I was never without her. Until one day, she didn't pick me up from school. For the first time in four years, Petra wasn't there. I waited on the steps of the school. I waited and waited and waited. But still no Petra. Around sunset a car pulled up. My dad got out of the car. He told me to get in the car, and I asked where Petra was. He refused to tell me, and I refused to get in the car. He hit me, hard, then shoved me inside. We drove to the hospital, where Petra was. And no before you ask, she was not in a car accident. If only it had been that." He paused for a while. He just stared off at the waves, not saying anything.

"She died an hour after I arrived. I never spoke to her, she had been unconscious the whole time. Her drug overdose had put her in a state of comatose, the doctors said she'd never have woken up anyway. Petra left me a letter, a letter I wasn't allowed to read until my eighteenth birthday this year. She told me that she had loved me more than she loved anything else, but that she couldn't do it anymore. That I needed to be free of her, that I needed to grow. I will never forgive her for abandoning me, I don't think. Well, after Petra died, mom and dad sort of stepped in I guess. For about a month. Then they couldn't stand me any longer. And so came the next nanny. And the next. And the next. I ran all of them off. I hated all of them, I hated everyone, especially my parents. This was their fault, if they hadn't left me, I wouldn't have needed Petra, and Petra never would have died."

"Castiel-"

"I'm not done yet. My parents showed up for the first time in five years. They came for Christmas. I will just say this, no Christmas was ever as terrible. After meeting my parents, Elaina decided she didn't like me or them. And she left. For good. She started dating Nathaniel then, before moving to Tolkein. My parents have managed to ruin everything in my life. Everything. That's my sob story. Is your curiosity satisfied?"

Now this is the part where any normal girl would cry, or give him a comforting hug, or kiss him. Not gonna lie to myself at this moment, I'd love to kiss him, but there's no way I'd kiss him right now, it would be out of pity. No way was I gonna start something and let it turn into something I would hate both of us for. So I did what any sensible girl would do.

"Suck it up. Goodnight Castiel, I'm going back to bed."

Ok, so I'm not the nicest fish in the pond. I'm more the one that'll pull you out of the boat before I let you catch me. So what? I stood and brushed the sand off the back of my nightgown. Castiel glanced up at me, and only when I saw his eyes darken the slightest bit in lust, did I realize what I was wearing. Short, thin, silky, and fluttering in the ocean wind. Great. Just great. Oh Karma, why dost thou hate me so? I ran back to the house. I shut the door to our bedroom, and crawled into bed, just as Castiel walked back in. He locked the door *gulp* and came to the bed. He positioned himself the same as earlier, away from me. _Now listen here you damnable hormonal teenage girl brain, don't even __**think**__ about it, got it? Don't even._ Despite my better judgment, I scooted to his side of the bed and snuggled up against him. I only use snuggle for lack of better word mind you. He turned over and wrapped his arms around me, ok, not part of the plan. Well, not exactly. The plan had been to show that I wasn't mad about how he had talked to me, not to get literally wrapped up in something I couldn't handle.

"Castiel, now listen I-" He was asleep. Wow. He fell asleep that quick. Wish I could do that.


	12. Helmets and Assumptions

I climbed off Castiel's Harley, and turned back towards his un-helmeted face.

"You're gonna die if you don't start wearing a helmet."

"Well Pixie, at least I know you care. See ya tomorrow." He drove away before I could say anything else. His house was only a couple away from mine, but he still disappeared from my view within moments. Shaking my head at his stubbornness I unlocked my door. Ah, home sweet home. Or at least it was for a little while longer. That thought immediately sent my mood spiraling downward. Ugh, stupid thought pattern. Well, the weekend had been interesting. I had met the band, and all that that included. I figured from now on I would be juggled between eating with the guys and being kidnapped by either them or Iris every weekend. Great. So much for being forgotten. I repacked my backpack, I always had it ready. I would never be caught off guard again. Dimitri was too much of a terrifying reality to ignore. There was no settling down, no making friends, no falling in love, no nothing. Such was life. End of story. Sleep evaded me until after midnight, and then the nightmare came once again. Worse than normal. Patrick told me it was only 1:15. Great. No sleep for me. What a wonderful way to start a Monday.

* * *

"Soooooooooo….." I turned to look at Iris. I rolled my eyes at the ginger.

"Out with it flower child. Just ask your humiliating question already." Violette laughed and Iris pouted.

"I resent being treated in such a rude manner!"

"Sweetheart, you're a ginger. Gingers are rude, and mean spirited. I'm not treating you any differently than gingers have always treated me. Nothing personal, but out of habit, I automatically am rude to red heads, in an effort to keep their temperamental sarcasm to themselves." Iris gasped, and Violette lost it. She had only been laughing, but Iris's stunned expression wiped her ability of self control. Iris pouted for a minute, then smiled at me with pure evil that only gingers are capable of possessing.

"You are an expert at dodging questions, and for that you have my respect. But I want the full, detailed version of what happened this weekend. And if I think you leave even the slightest thing out, I'll go ask Castiel what all happened myself."

I blanched. "You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?" She smiled sadistically. Such a ginger. Only gingers and Karma are capable of the evils that plague me. Violette leaned in, wanting in on all the dirty little details.

"Fine! But I hope you don't mind missing a class, because you might have to, unless my little story is to have a hell of a cliff hanger…" They shook their heads, and I sighed. Grrr, damn female curiosity. Why did we all have it? With a sigh, I began the dreaded tale of my weekend adventures. I doubt Iris and Violette have ever laughed that hard, or at least they haven't in a long while. I left out the part about his family of course, well really that whole night. By the time I was finished, we had missed biology and the better part of Home Ec. Good thing Auntie was forgiving…

I had never been more glad of having a car than when I walked outside and snow was falling from the grey sky above. It was coming down, and already starting to stick. I needed to get home soon, if I didn't wanna be snowed in. I was headed for my car when I was grabbed from behind. Instinctively, I panicked and tried to jab whoever grabbed me in the gut. My plan worked, and I was rewarded with a satisfyingly bruised elbow and a grunt from my attacker. He turned me to face him, and Castiel glared down at me.

"Pixie, I thought we had established that I was the only guy that was going to grab you like that." I didn't reply. He was right, no one else ever grabbed me that way. Except Dimitri. That's why I didn't like being touched. No one ever touched me except Dimitri, and now Castiel. And the last part was going to take getting used to. No. Bad Aria, no getting used to it. If you got used to it, you'd get comfortable around him. If that happened you wouldn't want to leave. I took a deep breath, I already didn't want to leave Amoris, it was my favorite place I'd lived so far. And another thing, I was already comfortable with Castiel. Which probably wasn't a good thing.

"Well Pixie, I wanted to ask you something. Are you doing anything for Christmas? Cause I'm not, and last time I checked, unless you correct me, you have no family to get stuck with, and I doubt you want to risk a family gathering with Iris and Violette…" I groaned. I had forgotten about the American holiday. I hated holidays. They always brought such bad memories. But I thought about how this year could be different. Yah, Aria, it'll be different alright. You'll fall farther in love with this headstrong rebel, and then you'll regret having to move in the spring. That's exactly what'll happen. You are setting yourself up for heartbreak. Castiel looked at me expectantly. His grey eyes searched mine, and he was asking more than just what I was doing over the holiday break. He was asking me to trust him. Well, he wasn't getting that.

"Yah, I'm doing something for Christmas. I'm teaching you how to cook."

* * *

That week came and went. Between avoiding Cherry Blossom, Iris, Vi, Dajan, Dake, and oddly enough, Lysander, I was exhausted. Lysander had been trying to find out anything he could about me. Which was not a good thing. So henceforth, I avoided him. The teachers had some kind of conspiracy going on to overload our brains with useless information and then testing us on it the next day. I flopped on my bed and sighed. Thursday had never taken so long before. Castiel had cornered me again in the parking lot, threatening to get the band to haunt me if I backed out of coming. Then Vi and Iris cornered me. I remembered the conversation all to well.

"So, I was thinking, tomorrow afternoon, we go shopping, then maybe get mani-pedis and have a total sleepover. Then on Saturday we would go to Tolkein (the nearest city F.Y.I), and pick up my Grandma. She's gonna work with my mom and cook a feast, while us girls do absolutely nothing! Then we'll gorge ourselves at Christmas, and sleep till Monday. Sound like a plan?"

"Uhh actually, no. I already have plans." Violette lifted an eyebrow, something she did only when suspicious. "And who are you going with Aria?"

"Me. Just me."

"Nuh-uh. Mom won't stand for it. You having plans with you simply won't do. No you're coming to our house. End of discussion."

I sighed. "I was afraid you would say that, so I made plans besides the ones with me myself and I." She put her hands on her hips and glared. Vi just looked expectantly, knowing that they would go so far as following me home to get information out of me. They had done that before, followed me home I mean. But that's a different story. For now,

"Alright, alright you got me. I'm having Christmas with Castiel. Big deal. I've been blackmailed and threatened so don't you dare get the wrong idea." Iris's eyes flashed in a brief spot of panic, and Violette looked concerned.

"Sweetie, I'm not sure that's the best idea. He has a bad reputation, and not just for being perverted. I really don't think that-" My glare cut her off. Then my voice added to the menace.

"Violette I am ashamed of saying I know you! How can you say that about someone you barely know? You only know about his reputation, not him! I never pegged you as the judgmental type, Vi. I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself, that I promise you. I have done this all my life, and if I get into something I can't handle, I assure you I'm a fast runner. Now you guys have a merry Christmas, I'll see you next Monday." I turned and walked away then. I was angry. Neither of them knew Castiel. But then neither did I. And I had defended him. Which meant I was trusting him, in a way. This town was nothing but bad for me. I had to leave right after Christmas, it was official. I had friends, and Castiel was begging to be more than a friend. Not literally, but I wanted him to be more than that. And that was a bad thing.

I pushed myself off my bed. This weekend was not off to a promising start. I just hoped I wasn't snowed in in the morning. That would suck, considering Castiel would sick the band on me if I wasn't at his place tomorrow. I packed my bag for Castiel's place. He had made it rather clear I was spending the night. Well really I was spending the week, but still. I got everything to fit in a duffle bag, much to my credit. I hopped in bed, trying not to think about what I was getting myself into.


	13. Nightmares, Dishes, and Zombies

Castiel's P.O.V.

I drove home after cornering Aria, telling her exactly what horrors awaited her if she conveniently "forgot" to come over tomorrow. She was going to spend Christmas break with me, and no one else. None of the guys were coming this year, and Demon didn't really count as having to share her attention so it was just me and her. I pulled up to my house, steering my bike into the garage instead of leaving it in the snow. I closed the door and stuck my hands in my pockets as I headed to the house. Demon ran into the snow the second I opened the door. Even though I had found him all but dead in the snow, winter was the crazy dog's favorite time of year. I let him romp around while I assessed the house. It wasn't filthy, but it certainly wasn't clean. Pizza boxes here and there, socks everywhere, compliments of a certain Belgian Shepard, and an overflowing sink of dishes. Not to mention I needed to find the tree in the attic, and decorate it and the rest of the house. I took off my jacket and got to work. This was going to take forever.

I awoke to Demon's barking, alerting me to the presence of another human on the premises. I rolled off the couch, and to the door, where someone was ringing the bell incessantly. I pulled open the door, forgetting my lack of apparel. I only slept in pants, so my bare feet and chest were assaulted with freezing air. Aria's wide purple eyes stared at my chest, then my face, then my chest again. Then she turned bright red and pushed her way inside. I closed the door and yawned.

"So tell me Pixie, what possessed you to come over so early?" she turned to me and stared in shock.

"Cherry Blossom, its like 1 in the afternoon!" Oh. Oh that's right, I didn't go to bed until 7, so that would explain why I was sleeping when she got here. Doing laundry and dishes was exhausting. And that damnable nickname!

"Why the hell do you call me Cherry Blossom? It doesn't make any sense!" She smirked at me, and I just wanted to kiss it right off. One of these days I'm going to do just that, and so, so much more. But for now the sinful creature was talking so I should listen instead of thinking of all the wicked things I'm going to do to her pretty little body.

"Well, your hair reminds me of cherries, and you're as sweet as any flower I've ever met, so I thought it applied." I blinked, no response to that. She laughed at me then turned around, taking in the room. I think I did ok at the decorating…finally Demon noticed her. He tackled her without so much as a bark, being too busy licking her face off.

"Down Demon! Down!" the dog ignored her commands, and continued licking her. She looked up at me, (having been pushed to the ground by a certain Belgian Shepard) and pleaded

"Castiel, make him stop!" I saw a golden opportunity.

"Gotta give me something to work with Pixie. What's in it for me?" She blushed and then glared, but her glare held no menace, not when her face resembled my hair.

"If you make him stop, I promise not to gut you as well as the turkey, how's that?" I chuckled, I didn't doubt she meant it.

"Demon! Heel!" He immediately hopped off her, tail wagging, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Damn dog, he was slobbering all over the couch. Aria glanced at me then back to the dog, blushing slightly.

"Would you please put on a shirt?"

"Now why would I do that? This is more comfortable in my opinion, and I can't possibly look that bad. I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I Pixie?" she glared at me, her chin jutting out in defiance. It was cute. Her embarrassment at so simple a thing as lacking a shirt. It just made me wonder how she would react when neither of us had anything on… I smirked at her, thinking about that. She could tell something other than her comment was on my mind, I knew by the look of slight panic in her violet eyes.

"Well Pixie, make yourself at home. I'm going to go shower. Snoop and explore all you want, unless you want to join me?" Her glare had probably sent many a man to hell, but not me, since that's where I was probably from anyway. I shrugged and headed for the staircase.

"You know where I'll be if you change your mind Pixie." Before she could reply, I was up the stairs and in the bathroom. I took a moderately long shower, just in case she DID want to change her mind. Unfortunately she didn't. Oh well. That would hopefully be rectified before the week was up. I headed back downstairs, only to find an empty house. I searched the entire downstairs and then headed back up. I finally found her snooping in my room, going through my music collection. I decided to be mean. I crept up behind her, and wrapped my arms around her slender waist. She stiffened and didn't move for a second, right when I was about to say something she hit me in the head with a book. She turned and looked down at me, smirking slightly.

"Maybe now you won't be stupid and go around grabbing me, hmm?" I glared at her for a second, then smirked. I grabbed her ankle and pulled her legs out from under her. I cushioned her fall, then switched our positions, so she was under me. As I stared into her wide eyes that brimmed with a sort of anticipating fear, it occurred to me that I hadn't kissed her yet. I leaned down, our faces, and more importantly, lips, only centimeters apart. She tried to push me off her, as if it would make a difference. I was right about to close the tiny distance between us when Demon knocked me off her.

"You damn dog! Stupid mutt! You spoiled such a good opportunity!" He barked indignantly, arguing with me. "I don't give a damn that she's the first girl that you like, you illegitimate bastard! You just ruined a perfect moment, I could have kissed her and who knows what else if you hadn't barged in on us you damn dog!" Demon growled at me, he was smart enough to know I was talking to him. Aria had run from the room the second Demon had jumped me, so now I had to go see where she was hiding.

After what seemed like hours (oh wait, it was hours!) I found Aria, hiding in the potato hamper in my pantry. It was a clever hiding spot, I'll give her that. The only reason I found her was because Demon went and sat next to it. Now we were sitting on the couch, watching a zombie horror flick while we ate spaghetti. Before you ask what possessed us to watch very graphic scenes of zombies ripping heads off people, Aria found it and demanded we watch it before anything else. I grimaced as I took a bite of slightly burned pasta. She had thought I could handle making noodles all by myself. I proved her wrong. A particularly gruesome death by zombie made me set my plate off to the side, my stomach could only take so much gore while eating food that looked rather like the insides of a zombie… Aria simply ate, eyes riveted to the screen. You have to respect a girl that could eat while watching the Crazies…

Aria leaned on my shoulder, asleep. Yes, asleep. Right in the middle of Salt, that movie about the Russian CIA agent? Yah, she fell asleep right as they killed her husband. Asleep. Wow. In the middle of a high suspense thriller, she falls asleep. I picked her up like the feather she was and carried her to her room. She would have my balls on a silver platter right next to the mashed potatoes on Christmas if I put her in my room. Now that there was no need to double bunk I could just see her reaction if she woke up next to me. Sure to be priceless, until she carved some part of me off as payment… I settled for setting her in her bed and doing nothing more than smoothing the golden hair from her eyes. I walked across the hall to my own room, stripping off my shirt and climbing into bed. I fell asleep wishing she was in my bed and not the one across the hall.

An ear splitting shriek awakened me in the middle of the night. Aria was sitting straight up in her bed, crying. She had her head in her hands, with her knees pulled up to her chest. I went to her, concerned, needless to say. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she flinched away, shifting to the other side, trying to get away from me. What had I done wrong? I was trying to comfort her, not hurt her… The only reason she would have done that was if someone had hurt her, or worse. That made me angry, the thought of anyone else doing anything to Aria, much less hurting her. My little pixie just sat there and cried. I didn't know what to do, tears caught me off guard. I never knew what to do when the tears showed up, I wasn't good at being sentimental… showing love and affection were hard for me, I was rough in everything I did. Including pulling her into my tight embrace against her will. She tried to fight me then relaxed. The tears continued even after she pulled away. She mumbled an apology about waking me up then left the room. I didn't move. Why on earth had she screamed? Why was she crying? What happened to her that made her flinch away from me? Who was responsible for the pain she was clearly in? She stopped crying and pushed away. She left and I heard the bathroom door close. I went back to my room and sat there, staring into the darkness, wondering what the hell was wrong with my pixie.


	14. Kissed by Jack Frost

Aria's P.O.V.

The damn nightmare was back, and this time I screamed. I hadn't screamed in months, but I did tonight. Of course, it would happen while I was with Castiel. I was thankful for the solid wall of muscle to cry on, but now he was going to ask questions. And I had no answers. Not any I could give. I turned off the faucet in the bathroom, and pushed my hair out of my face with shaking hands. It had been so terrible, I had relived more than just getting away, I had dreamed of everything that happened beforehand. Every little thing Dimitri had done, every painful memory in stark detail. I looked at myself in the mirror, noticing how swollen my face looked, which wasn't surprising considering how much I had cried. I went downstairs to get some pajamas, since Castiel had been gentlemanly enough to leave me in what I was wearing when I fell asleep, rather than "changing" my clothes. I smirked at the pain that must have caused him, me being at his mercy, albeit unconscious, and him not doing a thing. Must have caused his hormones hell. After changing I went back in Castiel's bedroom, where I found him sitting exactly as I had left him.

"Thank you for letting me cry on you Castiel. Sorry I woke you up. Go back to sleep."

I crawled back under the covers in my own room, and I wished he would come and hold me, consequences be damned. After that nightmare, I needed to be held. As if he read my thoughts he came in and crawled in the bed next to me and pulled me against him. Relaxing into his embrace I waited for him to fall asleep. I never slept after having that nightmare. Never. Castiel was asleep again within minutes. After I was sure he wouldn't wake up I slipped from his arms. The air outside the covers was almost enough to keep me from getting up, it was freezing. Snow fell outside, making the dark night like that out of a horror movie. Funny comparison come to think of it, it was rather close to the truth. I sat on the couch, staring out the window. I didn't move until the first weak rays of sunlight announced the arrival of dawn. I went into the kitchen to make coffee. As I drank my first cup I contemplated whether to make pancakes or waffles when Castiel stumbled down the stairs. I hid my smile behind my cup, not wanting him to see. He ran into the table, then a chair, and knocked his head on a cabinet. He finally managed to find a coffee cup and pour himself a cup without spilling it all over himself, much to his credit.

"Shall I go ahead and call the EMTs or wait until you actually hurt yourself?" My remark was met with a glare. A glare behind closed eyes. He was so damn cute when he was asleep… "Well, if you won't tell me if I should call, at least tell me if I should make pancakes or waffles while you contemplate the answer." Still no reply. He just sat there drinking his coffee. After eternity and then some, which actually turned out to be about 3 minutes, he finally opened his eyes.

"How in the hell can you be so damn cheerful in the mornings?" I giggled, not able to contain my amusement any longer. He glared at me with his eyes open this time, and then set his cup on the counter. His glare quickly changed into a sultry stare, and I knew I was in for it. My laughter died away when he took a step forward. Then another and another. He continued closing in on me, and there was no where for me to run. I was standing in the corner where the two countertops met, and the door was behind Castiel. Yup, I'm done for. He continued his slow procession towards me, his gaze only ever leaving mine for a scathingly appreciative glance at my silk nightgown encased body. I pulled a Nathaniel and did a mental face palm. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How the hell had I forgotten what I was wearing?! Castiel was getting closer and closer so I did what any sensible girl would do. I whistled for Demon. He came running, straight into Cassy to be exact. While Cherry wrestled with the dog, I made a run for it.

* * *

My week had consisted of a lot of those incidents. It was finally Monday now, and I could finally go home. I had managed to avoid getting in any really sticky situations, and the ones I did get in Demon rescued me every time without fail. I loved that dog. I couldn't believe I had ever thought of tranquilizing him. I was in basketball club right now. Dajan and Castiel were each a team captain, and the practice session was getting intense. I had gone searching for lost basketballs at the beginning of practice and I just got back. After putting the balls back I sat on the bleachers to watch. I was fine until I realized Castiel's team was the skins in the shirts-vs-skins game. I know I turned beet red. Castiel glanced at me and smirked. In that brief second, Dajan stole the ball, and dunked it. He was laughing his head off at Castiel's expression, and me, being the reason for Castiel's distraction. Soon the entire team was laughing at Castiel, who was glaring two edged swords. School was out now, so everyone was dispersing. Dajan came to sit by me.

"So whatdya think? We any good?" I grinned at him.

"Nope. Not good at all." He blinked, then looked confused, then ticked off.

"What do you mean, no good?! We're great!" I laughed at him, couldn't help it. I was going to say that, but he had cut me off.

"Dajan, sweetheart, I was going to say that. But you cut me off. But I think it was worth it, after all, I never knew that much emotion could pass over a person's face in the time span of approximately two seconds." Dajan glared at me, then smiled really big. The look in his eyes did not bode well. Before I knew what was happening I had been tossed over his shoulder.

"Dajan Alexander Okello put me down this instant!"

"How do you know my full name?!"

"Castiel's not the only one who brakes into file cabinets ya know! Now put me down before I find some way to hurt you!" he laughed, and I knew I was stuck. By now he had reached wherever it was he wanted to go. I didn't think I'd ever been in this part of the gym, but it's hard to tell when you're upside down. Dajan pushed through a door and the smell of dirty socks enveloped my senses. I wanted to gag. Jesus, where had he brought me? Realization dawned on me. Surely he hadn't, no he would dare…. Would he?

My question was answered rather quickly though, when he set me down. In a locker. Before I could so much as squeak a protest he shut the door.

"Dajan, I swear I will kill you. Or worse. I know exactly what I'll do, come to think of it. Hope you never wanted kids…" His laughter proceeded his response.

"Don't worry, you'll be rescued before everyone leaves. But I wouldn't make too much noise, some of the guys here wouldn't pass up an opportunity to get something out of your situation. I'd make sure I knew who was opening the locker before I said something, if I were you anyways. Bye Aria, see ya tomorrow." And with that he left. I could not believe this just happened to me. At least I still had my backpack. Wait, no that was sitting on the bleachers. I felt the blood drain from my face, if someone found that, I was screwed. It was that simple. I mean honestly, what do you do if you find a backpack that has clothes, a couple thousand dollars cash, and at least six fake ids? Go, "Oh, I wonder if this is the new girl's backpack. Has some weird stuff, but that's ok. I mean really, what's so unusual about fake ids and thousands of dollars just sitting in a backpack?" Uh, no. Oh god, what if Castiel found me? I would never live it down I just knew it. He'd probably say that I followed him in there. Ugh, the scandal. What would Iris think? I was in the middle of panicking when someone started twisting the dial on the locker I was in. Please, oh great and powerful Karma, let it be anyone who's not Castiel. The door swung open and I was greeted with the red headed, dripping, towel clad rebel. Shit. Castiel let out a grunt of surprise at my presence. I pushed past him and out of the locker. Unfortunately, he had gained his senses again and grabbed me.

"Pixie, why are you in the guy's locker room? I knew you wanted me, but you had plenty of opportunity to get me naked all week, so why wait until now?" He smirked, indicating his teasing, but his eyes were marked with the heat that only a man that was unmistakably turned on could possess. I was all too familiar with that heat, and it scared me. I had only seen it in the eyes of Dimitri, and that heat was something I never wanted to see again. _Until now anyway_ said my traitorous brain. Never had I ever felt it myself though. Damn it! This could NOT happen. I had to leave. And I had to leave now. I tried to jerk away, not responding. His grip wasn't painful, but it was iron.

"Come on Pixie, at least answer the question." Bright red, I looked up from his gorgeous tummy and up at his face.

"I made Dajan mad so he carried me in here and shoved me in your locker. Only he didn't tell me it was yours. So now if you'll excuse me, I really need to leave. It's already sunset, and I need to go home. So let go!" He smirked at me, and let go.

"Let me at least walk to your car after I'm dressed, don't want you getting put in any more lockers. Wait for me at the bleachers. And don't even think about going by yourself. I won't put you in my locker, but I am likely to put you somewhere else of mine." His smirk screamed arrogant confidence, and I wanted to slap him. But I best get away before he gets me again. I ran out of the locker room as fast as I could. I finally found my way back to the main area of the gym. My backpack was where I left it, and everything was still there, it hadn't been touched. I breathed a sigh of relief and hoisted it on my shoulder. I was about to make a run for it when Castiel appeared. Damn, I nearly got away. I tried to ignore him as I walked to my car. I shivered as we exited the gym, it was snowing again. As if the 2 ½ feet of snow already stuck to the ground wasn't enough. What had possessed me to move to Oregon? Silence permeated the freezing air around us. By the time we reached the car my teeth were shattering. I climbed in the car and willed it to start. But, Karma hates me, so it didn't. Castiel was leaning against the wall of the gym, smirking at my misfortune. I got out of the car and leaned against the wall next to him. He turned to look at me, rather amused.

"All right Cherry Blossom, I guess you can take me home, since my car refuses to." He arched an eyebrow.

"What's in it for me Pixie?" I glared up at him.

"How about you get to keep your dick? I'll cut it off without another thought. Now take me home." I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to one foot, and propped the other against the wall. He glared down at me and stepped in front of me, placing his hands on either side of me. I glared right back at him, he knew I hated being trapped. He leaned close, until I could feel his warm breath on my face. His breath created little clouds when he spoke,

"Now we both know you wouldn't do that. And I'll take you home, but on two conditions. One, you don't call me Cherry Blossom ever again. Alright?" I glared, but nodded all the same. _He never said I couldn't call him Cassy._ Mwahaha, I win. I looked at him, waiting for the second condition, but he didn't speak. Instead he stepped forward, his body pinning mine against the wall. I was now effectively trapped. The heat that had been in his eyes earlier was back, and flaming hotter than before. Shit. Have to get away, have to get away, how to get away? I looked around, the parking lot was deserted, and the sun had set. No one was around. The temperature was rapidly dropping, and the blue shadows elongated the longer I looked for an escape route. Castiel's hand reached up and cupped my chin, tilting my head to look at him. His icy hands should have made me colder, not sent floods of heat to every nerve ending. Jeez, how could a simple touch affect me like that? This was bad and I really needed to get out of there. I couldn't afford fall in love, (_is it love, or lust? Or maybe its both…) _Oh my god stupid brain stop being right already! Whatever it was, I couldn't do it, and certainly not with someone like Castiel, someone who wouldn't let me leave whenever I needed to. I tried to turn away, but his grip was tight.

"Second condition, I get to test a theory of mine." I eyed him warily, growing colder by the minute. Damn snow. I hate snow.

Before I could respond though, Castiel's lips where on mine. Hot, firm and demanding. I gasped at the sudden, unexpected contact. Castiel took full advantage of the situation and his tongue sought out mine. Despite myself, I closed my eyes and let him take control. His hand moved from my chin to my neck, and he angled me more towards him, deepening the kiss. His other hand pulled me away from the wall and closer to him, attaching onto my hip. One thing can be said about the entire situation. Castiel was an amazing kisser. End of story. When he finally pulled away I was gasping for breath, and he was smirking.

"I was right Pixie. You do taste a bit like vodka." My head jerked up to look at him. Vodka? I tasted like vodka? What the hell? And why had that been a theory of his? Full of questions, I tried to ask why the hell he had just kissed me when he did it again. Only this time he was serious about it. He pulled me closer than I already was, and his arm wrapped around my waist, his hand resting on my left hip. His right hand tangled itself in my gold hair, fisting it against the nape of my neck. His tongue traced my lower lip then teased my mouth open beneath his. He traced the inside of my mouth, there wasn't a single pace he hadn't tasted. He pulled away only to breathe, then crushed his mouth to mine again, before I could protest. When he pulled away the second time, he untangled himself from me, or at least loosened his grip. Well, I wasn't cold anymore. More like I was on fire, every part of me tingling like I was stuck by lightning or some such crazy love stuck teenager description about what a kiss is like. Castiel smirked at me, then dragged me towards his bike. It was completely dark now. Great, alone, in the dark, alone, with Castiel. Did I mention the alone part? But back to the REAL situation.

"What do you mean I taste like vodka? How do you know what that tastes like? And why was that a theory of yours? And what the hell makes you think you can just kiss me and get away with it?!" He turned to look at me as he climbed on his Harley.

"Come on Pixie, get on. In answer to your questions, you simply taste like vodka, and my mom's an alcoholic. She let me try it once. And once you told the guys you were Russian, it made me wonder, since they're famous for their vodka. And I'm pretty sure I can kiss you and get away with it because I just did. And you won't do anything about it because I'm your ride." I turned crimson, and glared at him with all the hate I could muster. Which wasn't much, after that kiss… No, bad Ariana. Bad. Do NOT think that way! I made up my mind at that moment, I was moving after New Years. I had to leave before I fell farther in love with Castiel, before I became better friends with Iris and Vi and the guys, and before I was found. I would tell everyone. . . Uh, I'd tell them when I decided where I'll move to. Yup, that's what I'll do. But where to move to? Amoris was the last planned stop I had, I needed to make another itinerary of where to move and how long to stay. But for now, Castiel.

I climbed on behind him, darkness surrounding us. We drove to my house in silence, except the muffled roar of the engine. The snow seemed to snuff out everything. Light, heat, sound, everything. Castiel waited until I was safely inside my house before driving away. My heart clenched at that small gesture. That was him protecting me. No one had ever protected me. Only myself. I wanted to do nothing but soak in a hot bath, cry my eyes out, and sleep my life away. But I couldn't do any of that until I finished my English homework. Charles Dickens again. Yippee.

* * *

"According to a rather trustworthy source, you were seen making a scene with Castiel. It was said that the two of you started getting hot and heavy in the boys locker room and then took it to the parking lot and eventually to your house. Is that true Aria?" Peggy grilled me for details. I couldn't stand her. I hated her really, always sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Like now. I think I might adjust that cute little nose of hers if she didn't leave me alone.

"Peggy, I will say this once. You tell your little 'trustworthy source' that I will find them and hospitalize them if they ever make up such a ridiculous lie again. And if you don't stop sticking your pretty little nose where it doesn't belong I'll be sure to re-shape it so it won't fit into anyone else's business but yours. Got it _ckya_?" I called her something not very nice in Russian, for effect. Russian was much scarier sounding than English. Fear actually passed over eyes for a second then they lit up in anger.

"You can't threaten me! I'll make your life miserable Aria! I can tell people anything and they'll believe me! Now, you can tell me the truth and admit to doing everything I just said or I can print this in the paper AND some other not so true stuff about you. Now which do you prefer?" I punched her. Hard. Then walked away like I didn't do it. I could hear her crying behind me, but I didn't give a shit. After all it was me who hit her wasn't it? No one else was around either, so no one could say I hit her or that it was my fault. So I couldn't get pegged with anything. And she couldn't legally press charges without some kind of evidence so ha, I win. Triumph put a bit of a skip in my step, or at least it did until I rounded the corner. Where I ran smack into the devil himself, in the form of a gorgeous, toned, titanium built red head with a smirk that could send chills down the strongest willed woman. After all it worked on me didn't it? But back to my most likely impending doom. I was pushed against the lockers and kissed senseless. I half expected it, but it still didn't prepare me for what I got. When he released me I was trembling from sheer pleasure, not shock. That rebel could kiss. I looked up at the Winged Skulls junkie and glared. He frowned at me.

"What's wrong? Did I not do good enough? I'm sure can do better, if you don't mind missing a bit of class." He smirked down at me, still pleased with himself. Nathaniel chose the exact moment Castiel kissed me again to walk by. He cleared his throat and said,

"Pardon me for interrupting, but Peggy's coming." I pushed Castiel away and ran down the hall way. As I passed him, I think I heard Nat mumble something about "excuse # 34 still works…" or something. If he had excuses written down somewhere to use against people it wouldn't surprise me. I walked into Government I right as the bell rang. Castiel walked in after a moment, earning a glare from Mr. Clarkson. He shrugged and sat down on my left. Iris was to my right and Violette was right behind me. The girls both glanced up, that seat was normally empty. Violette slipped a note in my backpack. When Mr. Clarkson wasn't looking I read it.

_You are sitting with us at lunch today and you can't say no. If you disappear you will regret it, whether it's your fault or not. We didn't get a chance to ask how Christmas went, and Peggy started some ridiculous rumor and we wanna know what really happened. We've already talked to all the guys, well threatened them actually, but they agreed to let you eat with us instead of them today. So be at our table. Or else._

Great, now I have to tell them what happened. I had better not lie to them, I'll likely get myself in a deeper hole than I'm already in. Crap. The day passed way too quickly, and luckily lunch went off without a hitch. I told them what really happened, not in great detail, omitting important things like my nightmare, but telling them that he had kissed me for the first time last night. Violette was happy, she thought it was about time that Castiel get serious with one girl. Iris however was skeptical, and told me to maintain my distance. Something I already planned on trying to do. Not that I thought it would work. _Or want it too_. Sigh, bad brain. Bad. That's all the protesting I feel like today. I'm too tired to care. I didn't sleep much last night, between thinking about the kiss and my increasingly horrific nightmare. It was odd, the nightmare was almost as bad as it was when I first started having it…


	15. Demons and Day Dreams

"Alright class, your paper is due March 3rd, and today is February 27th, so you have a week left. Don't wait till the last minute, and follow the format! Alright, you're dismissed. Aria, will you stay after class please?"

I looked up from my doodle, confused. I had good grades, what did he want? Everyone else filed out of the room. Dake and Violette, the only two outa the bunch that stalked me, that were in the class, cast me looks of interest. I shrugged, I had no idea what Mr. Faraize wanted. After everyone else left I walked up to the board, where he was erasing today's notes.

"Did you need something Mr. Fariaze?" He stopped erasing and turned to face me.

"I just wanted to day that the last paper that you wrote on Russian history was amazing, and wanted to congratulate you. And suggest you send it into the national competition for historical writing. It was probably the best paper I've seen in all my years as an educator. Think about it ok? It could really open up some opportunities. You can leave now." I nodded and walked out. The school passed in a blur, nothing really taking on defined form. I was really getting settled. It wasn't good. I should have moved over New Years, but I couldn't bring myself to leave Amoris. So I had stayed. It was February now, and the snow was melting and spring pushing its way through the still frosty air. I had really good friends, and let's face it, a boyfriend too. Castiel had done nothing but keep me closer over the last months, and resistance was futile. I was daydreaming about what Mr. Faraize said. I could turn that paper in, earn a scholarship, go to college, settle down somewhere, not have to worry about my fiancé finding me. Dimitri was supposed to marry me as soon as I turned 18, but I ran off two years before. Technically, I was supposed to married about now. I was turning 19 in August, and it was February. I sighed and headed to basketball club, where I was bound to get sent running over kingdom and Amoris looking for balls.

"Hey, what's up with you? Pixie, answer me, or I'll make it where you can't talk even if you want to." My head jerked up from my Calculus to look at him. He was glaring down at me, sweaty from practice and looking absolutely perfect. His red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his shirtless body looked even better than when I had first met him, it made me wonder if he was doing it for me. Working out more I mean.

"Alright fine then, if you won't talk I'll give you a reason not to." Before I could utter a protest I was hauled up and pulled against him. Pressing his lips to mine he wrapped his arm around my waist and led me away from the bleachers where I had been sitting and more towards the exit of the gym. I tried to push him away, but he backed me against a wall, and kissed me more thoroughly, his tongue doing wicked things to my conscience. I melted at that, he knew exactly what to do to make me into a puddle of pleasure. But it has never gone beyond kissing mind you! Nothing else has happened! Don't look at me like that! Sure I lie about life in general but I'm not kidding about this! Suddenly the pressure being put on me was released and I opened my eyes to see Dake dragging Castiel back onto the court, and Dajan smirking at me, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I glared at him and the smirk became a smile. The game commenced again, and I was left with Calculus. At least it was Tuesday. Its kinda sad when you smile on the fact that it's Tuesday instead of Monday. But anyways. You're probably wondering why I don't take the golden opportunity to run away from the situation I'm sure to get in. But I'm not running away today because I get to take Demon to the park, as long as Castiel gets to drive me to his house. Weird condition that's sure to have some ulterior motive, but condition all the same. I hadn't seen Demon since Christmas and I missed the over excited mutt. I finished by Calculus and resorted to watching the game. Ok, fine, I was only watching Castiel but whatever. The bell rang for dismissing school, and Castiel went straight to the locker room. After about 10 minutes he reappeared, fully dressed. _A true misfortune, if you ask me_. I stopped arguing with my brain, it was normally right. Especially now for instance.

"What took so long? I would have left if I knew you were gonna shower first." Castiel just smirked at me.

"If I had known you wanted to take a shower with me I would have waited till we got home." I turned bright red, I had been thinking it, but he had said it. He just smirked and hauled me to my feet.

"I can walk by myself actually. I'm a big girl, and I know what I'm doing. I promise."

"But you don't know what I'm doing yet, so you can't be allowed to opportunity to run away. Hence my holding you." I glared up at his stormy eyes, hoping he felt my hatred towards him. He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss, then dragged me out of the gym and into the warm spring air.

* * *

Demon barked and tugged on the leash, wanting to be let loose. I bent down and unlatched his leash. Castiel threw the Frisbee, but instead of chasing it, Demon tackled me, just as he had when we had been reunited. I was no match to his insane I-love-you-more-than-anything-except-frisbees doggy strength. Castiel whistled and called Demon off. When he finally ran for the Frisbee I was again hauled my feet.

"Ya know, I really wish you wouldn't do that, I bruise easy." He just shrugged in response, bastard. I sighed and rolled my eyes, watching Demon frolic through the park. The air was still a bit cool, and scented with the lilacs that littered the park. Between those and the wisteria the entire park took an ethereal look. I loved it. I was fantasizing about when I could get a house of my own, and possibly take up gardening. But that would never happen, not only would I ever be able to stay somewhere long enough to buy a house, plus, if I touched it, it died. So plants weren't exactly fond of me… I was so distracted I had no idea of Castiel sneaking up behind me. His arms snaked around my waist, and his lips close to my ear.

"Unless you're thinking of ways to please me later on, I would wipe that daydreaming look of my face, before it's kissed off." Dimitri alert, Dimitri alert! That was such a Dimitri comment! And yet, instead of dread, I felt excitement coiling in my stomach. Yah, time to go home. Castiel turned me to face him, no doubt to judge my reaction. I acted on a split second decision and kissed him full on, then ran for the school while he was still dazed.

* * *

Home at last. I threw my backpack down by the door and flopped on the bed with a sigh. No, I'm not gonna work on that paper yet. I'm gonna go soak in the tub with a good romance novel and then sleep. Sounds like a plan to me.


	16. Surprise

Castiel's P.O.V.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

I slammed my fist down on the alarm clock, shutting it off. With great effort, I managed to open one eye. Good start, Castiel, now the other one. I finally managed to open my eyes, then get out of bed. With a yawn I pulled on my clothes, and grabbed my duffle bag. I made sure Demon's food bowl was full and checked to make sure the key was over the door frame on my way out of the house.

* * *

It was only a short walk to Aria's house, five houses down on the opposite street. I picked the lock on her door with ease, and turned the knob. Only the door didn't open. Damn her, she had a deadbolt and a chain. Wait a padlock too?! Jeez, talk about setback. Oh well, I'll just have to knock.

Knock knock knock

I waited a few minutes, then knocked again. I heard expletives on the other side of the door as she tried to open all the different locks. A smile crept to my face, I could just see Aria's frustration bubbling out of her. After a moment the door swung open and I was greeted by,

"Castiel? Is that you? What do you want? Why are you at my house at two in the morning?" I chuckled and pushed past her. Her voice was soft and a little ditsy, not surprising since it was two in the morning. She stood dumbfounded, staring at me with the door wide open. I gently pushed her to the side and closed the door. She was still asleep, that much was apparent. Good, all a part of the plan.

"Come on Pixie, go get dressed, we're going on a trip." She looked at me through ¾ asleep eyes. With a yawn she asked,

"Oh. Ok. What kind of a trip?" I stifled a laugh, she was defenseless when she was asleep. That would be a useful something to remember for future reference…

"A surprise trip."

"Oh yay, I like surprise trips. Last time we went on a surprise trip you took me to the beach. I kinda like the beach. But its really wet. Why is it wet Cassy?" Ok, that is freaking funny. Smartest girl I know, besides Melody, and she asked me why the beach was wet. Wow. I led her to her bedroom and sat her on her bed. She simply watched me as I pulled some clothes from a drawer and handed them to her.

"Pixie, sweetheart, I need you to go get dressed. You can sleep on the way. I know its early, but we need to get going."

"Oh alright. But where are we go-" she yawned then continued, "-ing?"

"Somewhere. Just go get dressed, I'll worry about the rest." She didn't reply but went to get dressed. I grabbed her empty backpack and stuffed some of her clothes inside it. Ugh, nothing but Vintage Corpse t-shirts! As much as I loved Aria, her taste in music was terrible. I had just finished zipping it up when she walked out of the bathroom, with her eyes still closed. I grabbed her two backpacks (I went ahead and got the one she always has too, don't want her having a drawback or something because she didn't have it) and walked over to her. Grabbing her hand I led her to the door, picking up my duffle on the way out. I grabbed her house keys off the table as we passed it, and locked her door behind us. Aria leaned on my shoulder the whole while, sleep walking by the looks of it.

"Pixie? Pixie where are the keys to your car?"

"Oh we're taking my car? But why?"

"I'll tell you after we get there ok? But first I need the keys Pixie."

"They're in my front pocket you gorgeous, red-headed hot as Hades rebel. Where else would they be?" Ok, so that's what she really thinks of me. Interesting… but anyway, back to the situation at hand. I searched through her backpack, since I doubted she had meant her jeans. Besides, why would I want in the pockets of her jeans when I was aiming for other places? But that's not the point. I finally found the keys and gently led Aria to the car. I unlocked it and pushed her lightly into the seat, buckled her in and shut the door. I threw the bags into the back seat and got behind the wheel. By the time I got to the highway, she was already asleep again. I drove along the south-bound lane for another couple of hours, only stopping for gas. By my calculations, we should have been in Napa by nightfall. Then it was another day's drive down the rest of the way to L.A.


	17. Kidnapped Again

Aria's P.O.V.

I jerked awake. Damnable nightmare. I blinked a couple times, everything was still blurry from sleep. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. When I opened them again I saw a road. With nothing on the sides of it. Except another road to the left. Why was I on the road? I had been in my house. But now I was seatbelted into a car. Panic clogged my throat and panic rose from my abdomen. I fought for calm and looked to see who was driving, although I knew who it was. Dimitri had found me, I just knew it. I had stayed in Amoris too long. Dimitri had found me and was going to take me home. But what I didn't expect was my red-headed Winged Skulls idiot driving. Red hot rage replaced my panic from seconds ago. Didn't he know better than to do something like kidnap me?! Had he no idea of my past? What I had suffered, what plagued me night and day, what I was always running from? Oh, wait. He doesn't. Ok so I need to calm down. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Remain calm, don't over-react, speak normally.

"Castiel, why am I in my car? Why am I not in my bed at my house? Alone? And how did you even know where I live?! And where are-" I was cut off by a Winged Skulls song, emanating from Cassy's phone. I was about to continue when Castiel held up a finger. He answered the phone.

"Oh hey Lys… yah yah we're on out way… no she doesn't know… yes I'm going to tell her… no you may not just so happen to show up as well, this has been planned for months… I mean it Lysander, don't you dare ruin this… Yes I promise to tell you how things go… yah, yah… yah ok Lys, I really need to go, Pixie's about to strangle me, and it's hard enough to drive while talking, much less defend myself. Yah, yah bye."

I was nearly bursting with anger. I was going to kill him. He just smiled at me.

"Well good morning to you too Pixie. Did you sleep well? You ought to have, considering you've been sleeping most of the day."

"What time is it?" He was about to answer when I cut him off.

"No, you distracted me. Don't answer that. Answer this. Where are we going, what are we doing, what makes you think you'll get away with kidnapping and what did you mean by 'this has been planned for months'?!" Castiel simply changed lanes, headed for the nearest exit.

"Castiel Lane Stone if you don't answer me within the next ten seconds or so I will grab the wheel and crash us into the nearest object. And a car is easy to fix, a face like yours not so much." Castiel rolled his eyes at me and pulled off the highway.

"We're going somewhere, we're doing something, and I'm not kidnapping because you agreed to this."

"When?!"

"When I picked you up this morning. Did you know you talk in your sleep?" I stared at him. No way. If I talked in my sleep… shit. End of story. Cassy laughed at my expression as he pulled to a stop in front of the gas station. He got out and stuck the nozzle in the car, then walked around to my side. He opened the door then leaned on the frame. He smirked down at me. I glared at him, waiting for him to spontaneously combust.

"Well Pixie, if I were you I would take this opportunity to do anything important, like use the restroom, get a drink or food, anything to that extent. It's the last stop before we stop for the night." I unbuckled and shoved him away from the door. I left him smirking to himself and headed for the little store in the middle of nowhere. After using the restroom I grabbed a Monster from a cooler and got in line. I looked around for some kind of signage telling where the hell I was. Of course there wasn't anything. Wait, there's a post card. "Greetings from Yuba California!" Yuba? California? As in Yuba, California? Oh my god the man had kidnapped me and was taking me to Mexico, that's exactly what was going on. And here I thought he had at least liked me enough to keep me… Yuba, California? Why in the hell where we in California?! I finally got to the front of the line and was about to pay for my drink when Castiel came up behind me and put down some cash to pay for the gas and the drink.

"Now Cassy, I realize that we're riding together, but that doesn't mean that you can cut in line with me so you can speed the journey along by a minute and a half." The clerk snorted a laugh. Having paid I turned to leave, and was grabbed on my way out the door. Castiel drug me over to the side of the building where no one would see. Even if they were looking. Great, just great. I wonder how much evidence is needed to convict someone of statutory… He pushed me against the wall and leaned close.

"Now Pixie, I know you're unhappy with being kept in the dark, but I promise it'll be worth it in the end ok? It'll only be a couple of hours before we stop for the night, so your boredom won't last too terribly long. Now let's just go get in the car and be on our way, ok?" I shook my head, no way was I getting in the car until he told me exactly where we were going. And I was about to tell him just that when he started talking again, resting his forehead on mine.

"Hey listen, I'm sorry ok? I wanted to just be straight forward and ask, but this seemed like more fun. I'm sorry that I upset you. Please accept my apology." His normally dark grey eyes lightened in pleading. I broke eye contact and shut my own, shaking my head. I wouldn't give him what he wanted. I cracked one eye open to see what he was doing, just in time to see him smirk slightly. He kissed me, none too gently, and for a good long while. He drew away, smirking slightly.

"There. Now am I forgiven?" I shook my head again, then realized my mistake. Too late. He crushed his mouth to mine, kissing me harder, fuller and hotter than before. And much to my despair, I kissed him right back. Bad brain. Bad controlling brain. Cassy pulled me away from the wall and against him. He finally pulled away then, but kept me close.

"I think I'm forgiven." I tried to push him away, but of course that failed. But stomping on his foot and konking him in the head worked well enough for me to run to the car to avoid any other terrible misfortunes.

* * *

"Wait, wait, let me get this straight, one last time promise. So you mean that you kidnapped me and drove to L.A. so that we could go to the NRMC? You bought a ticket for me and you to go to the National Rock Music Competition in Los Angeles just because?!" Castiel rolled his eyes at me from his place on the bed in our hotel room that overlooked the L.A. coast.

"No you idiot, I bought the tickets so you can see for yourself just how much better the Winged Skulls are than your silly little punk princess band Vintage Corpse." I glared at him, but it faded and was replaced by a huge smile. I was gonna get to see Vintage Corpse in concert! Without really thinking, I jumped him and kissed him what I'd like to believe to be senseless. I hopped off him and danced to the window again. Castiel was staring at me, while I mentally did my happy dance, and I glanced at him. He blushed and looked away. Why? What did I do? Oh well, I don't care, I GET TO GO SEE VINTAGE CORPSE IN CONCERT!


	18. Wanna Bet?

Castiel's P.O.V.

I blinked. And blinked again. Aria lifted her brows quizzically, waiting for an answer.

"Damn." That was all I could say. A slow, not nearly as subtle as it should have been, slightly seductive smirk crept across her face. She turned around to look in the mirror again. She adjusted the corset looking top and fluffed the ruffles on her skirt. Normally she was enough to make guys stop and stare, but tonight I was gonna have to hold on to her just to make sure she wasn't kidnapped or something. The black corset she wore over her deep purple short-sleeved top formed to her well crafted body and her black ruffled mini skirt ended ¾ up her thigh, and her laced boots went just over her knees. I wanted to rip every bit of clingy cloth away from her and take her right then, but we were running late, and I doubt our first time should be me acting like a sex-crazed animal. But anyway, yah, she looked like the thing every guy dreams about. But she wasn't every guy's, she was all mine, and I was going to prove it to her soon enough.

* * *

I passed the tickets to a bouncer that was 2 inches shorter than me but twice as thick. Scary, if you were Ken. Aria was practically jumping up and down she was so excited. I had realized she would be happy, but this was starting to border upon ridiculous. The bouncer nodded at our tickets and opened the door to the stadium. We pushed our way through the small opening while the guy tried to hold back all the crazed fans without tickets that were trying to get in. Once clear of the door the air became breathable again. There was space to move now, which relieved me greatly. I'm not claustrophobic, but I'd don't wanna loose Aria. I'm likely never to see her again wearing that outfit…

"Where are our seats? I wanna see the stage, oh I wonder if they'll outdo themselves like last year. I watched it on TV and Vintage Corpse's stunts totally poned everyone. It's kinda where they got their start ya know?" She glanced at me and made a face. "Winged Skulls too." I smirked. I might still win the argument of who's band was better. We found our seats on the ground level, first row, right in front of the stage.

"No. Freaking. Way. No freaking way. Nofreakingway!" Aria literally jumped up and down now. I rolled my eyes at her, it was just a concert. She glared at me then smiled.

"Bet you anything Winged Skulls get second place." Now I smirked, no way would that happen. I was going to use this to my definite advantage.

"Alright Pixie, what do you get if Winged Skulls gets second? And what do I get when Vintage Corpse gets second? How about whoever wins get to do _whatever_ they want to the other person sometime after the concert?" She blushed slightly as she looked up at me, and chewed her lip, thinking. I tried not to smirk as I slid a hand up her bare arm, pulled her close and put my lips to her ear.

"Come on Pixie, you've got nothing to loose, if Winged Skulls are as bad as you seem to think. And if you win, you can do whatever you want to me, for however long you want." She melted when I started to kiss down her neck. Not far, I stopped half way down, just like always, much to my increasing displeasure.

"Alright. Nothing better to bet with." I smirked and kissed her, then reminded her of a minor little detail.

"Now that you've agreed, I think I'll point out that I'm gonna get to do anything and everything I want to you. Considering the likelihood of Winged Skulls loosing is like zilch." She blushed and pushed me away, turning to look somewhere, probably anywhere, that I wasn't. The stadium had filled up really fast, and a quick check of the phone said we'd be starting in about five minutes. Five, excruciating minutes. An announcer finally walked onstage. Silence descended almost immediately. It was almost funny, how serious all these rock fans were.

"Good evening everyone! Welcome to the 34th annual National Rock Music Competition! Now then, let me hear from anyone who's excited!" The cheering was deafening. He continued over the din,

"Well guys, we have over 20 bands performing with 4 different songs each so we best get started, what do ya'll think?" More deafening shouting. "Without further ado, give it up for our opening performer, Skillet!"

Skillet played flawlessly, as always. No one missed a beat and the entire thing was amazing. Good thing they were the opening act and not a performer, if they were then no one else would really stand a chance. Hours later Winged Skulls finally played, and Vintage Corpse right after them. Never will I admit it, but Aria's little punk princess band wasn't all that bad. They were rather like Winged Skulls, only the girl version… Around midnight the concert started to come to an end. Fans were tiring, and even the announcer seemed a bit dogged. Winged Skulls and Vintage Corpse had one last music battle then the concert was decided.

"Drum roll please! In 3rd place we have Ignition! We tied for second place, wait for it, wait for it… Winged Skulls and Vintage Corpse congratulations, you both win second place, and for the finale come on punks can't you do any better than that I don't wanna be able to hear when I wake up later today!" The entire stadium shouted as one, and the announcer stepped back faking surprise. I rolled my eyes, I just wanted to know who had managed to beat Winged Skulls!

"And first place goes to….. Falling in Reverse! Congratulations Falling in Reverse you are now this year's Best Rock Band of the Year! Thanks for coming everyone come back and see us next year!" I looked around the stadium, there had to be another exit, one that hopefully wasn't over flowing with psychopathic groupies. I grabbed Aria's hand and steered us through the opposite flowing traffic of people. We finally made it through, and luckily neither of us got hurt. Now we were on the other side of the stadium, heading for another set of doors kinda hidden in the shadow, which explained why no one had used them till now. Upon reaching them, I discovered they were locked. That might have been the other reason no one was using them, but maybe not, might just be me thinking something at least partially correct… Aria looked around the stadium while I picked the lock on the doors. She was rambling about how good Skillet's opening was or something when I got the door open. I turned around to tell Aria and saw her just standing there pale as a ghost, with a terrified expression on her face.


	19. Lady Luck

Dimitri's P.O.V.

I looked around the concert. It was unlikely I'd find my little Hannah here, but I did like to listen to some of the bands playing. I looked around for a girl who looked like she was alone, maybe I could have a little fun tonight. Nothing un-agreed though, I wasn't going to get accused of a felony. I was an illegal immigrant after all, couldn't have the police after me. The flood of fans was starting to exit, and rather than be trampled I moved to the side. No girls had really caught my eye, which was rather disappointing. Oh wait, what's this? Blonde, tall, slender, rather cute face, purple eyes. My, those eyes look just like Hannah's. I smiled when our eyes met from a little ways away. She visibly paled. Huh, how odd. If she didn't want to be looked at she shouldn't have worn that outfit. Oh well.

Wait a second. I turned to look at her again. Purple eyes, small curved nose, perfect lips, familiar heart shaped face. Yes, it was my Hannah. My, my. Fortune smiled on me today. I had come to the concert for a good time, not to find Hannah. Sure I was in the U.S. looking for her, but I hadn't expected to find her here. I smiled again, only this time it was my smile that only she had ever seen. The smile that told her I knew I had found her, and that I was going to get her back. For good.


	20. Questions

Castiel's P.O.V.

"Pixie? Pixie, come on, the door's open, let's go." I looked at her questioningly. She didn't respond. She simply stood, staring at something, or someone, pale, un-moving and terrified. What the hell? Honestly what was there to be scared of? I grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the door, and she flinched at the mere contact. Ok, what the hell was going on? This wasn't funny, and she was making me worry. I glanced back at her as we wound through darkened hallways and out the back of the stadium. She said not a word, but simply allowed me to pull her along. Worry and fear radiated from her the whole way back to the car, and she jumped at every little sound. I was glaring at her by the time we reached her car, she was making me angry, not talking, refusing to do anything other than be scared. Aria just looked around the parking lot, not getting in the car. I growled and walked to her side, reaching past her to open the door. She flinched and shrunk back, as if expecting a blow. What the hell?! She didn't honestly think I would hurt her? As gently as I could I grabbed her arm and steered her into the car. She still had enough sense to buckle her own seat belt so that was one less thing I had to worry about. I walked over to the driver's side and slid into the seat. Aria still looked pale, but not as bad as before.

"Pixie, are you sick?" She mutely shook her head. "Head hurt? Voice gone? What? Honestly Pixie, it's hard to help when I don't know what's wrong." She just glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes and went back to staring straight ahead. I pulled onto the highway as she started to speak.

"Nothing's wrong Cassy. I'm not sick, I'm fine. Really." She paused to see my reaction. I doubt my expression said anything to the extent of "I believe you". She bit her lip and chose her words carefully. "Castiel, I'm fine. Can we just go back to the hotel? I wanna start home early tomorrow, I don't like Los Angeles much." I glared at her as I wove through traffic.

"Bullshit. Bull freaking shit. You said you loved California. Why are you lying to me now?" She didn't respond. "Damn it Pixie answer me!" My voice raised itself and she shrunk down in her seat. Ok that's it, we are getting our stuff and heading home right now, and I'm stopping outside the city and I'm going to drag whatever it is she's not telling me out of her. She still didn't respond though, even as I drove into the parking lot of the hotel we had been staying at. I turned off the car and angled myself towards her so that I could see all of her. She looked perfectly normal, except for the storm of raging emotions in her purple eyes.

"Stay here. Got it? I'm going to get our stuff, then I'm coming back. Don't leave. I mean it. I'll be back in a few minutes. We're gonna go ahead and start back to Amoris before everyone else tries to leave L.A. and we get caught in major traffic." I slammed the door on my way out. What was she hiding?

Aria's P.O.V.

I had my backpack, I should have just taken it and run. After all, I'd been waiting for this exact thing to happen ever since I moved to America. I'd been waiting for Dimitri to find me, and now he had. Even if he didn't know where I lived, he still knew I was in L.A. all he had to do was find my car and follow me out. And even if he lost me now, he had ways of finding out whatever he needed to know, no matter what it was. I looked around the deserted parking lot. Not a soul in sight. We were parked in the back, under the palm trees that characterized every Californian hotel. The wind stirred through the trees, and everything else. The bushes near the door moved slightly and I felt my heart beat spike. Every little movement could be him. I had to get away, and not back to Amoris. Before I could change my mind, I grabbed my backpack. I tumbled through it until I found the cargo pants I wanted. I hastily changed out of my skirt and boots into the pants and a pair of Nikes I had in the back seat. I looked around for the keys before I realized that Castiel had them. Damn it, now I have to leave the car. Oh well, I need to get going. I opened the door and nimbly jumped out. I took one last look around to make sure no one was around, then turned away from the car. I stood face to chest with the rebel that secretly stole my heart. And my breath at this moment. I shrieked and jumped away, but not fast enough. He grabbed my arm, rather painfully I might add, and glared at me.

"What the hell Pixie?! I told you to stay here while I go get our bags and I come back and you're over here acting like you're Salt! Why?! What the hell did I do? Tell me!" He pushed me against the car and held me there. It wrenched my heart out to hear him say he thought my skittishness was his fault some how. I didn't reply though, the less he knew, the better for him. If Dimitri found out that Castiel knew anything he would kill him, of that I was sure. Even if I got away, I'd never forgive myself if Dimtri hurt Castiel. Castiel's glare made me want to fade into non-existence. His grey eyes were dark with anger. Tiny black flames of outrage danced around the hurt that filled his eyes to capacity. Seeing that I wasn't going to answer he jerked me away from the car long enough to open the door, then shoved me inside and slammed the door. He stalked around the other side and climbed in wordlessly. He got on the highway without a word. Only it was the east-bound highway. We needed to go north. I debated on asking him or not when he spoke up.

"We're not going back to Amoris yet. Not until you tell me why the hell you're so scared. You clearly saw something or someone at the concert. And its not just a phobia kind of fear, if that were the case you would have been back to normal much earlier." He slid a glance at me when I opened my mouth to protest, daring me to go through with it. I shut my mouth. The faint hints of a smirk lingered on his face, but he was still too angry with me to actually give me a smirk, much less a smile. I stared out my window at the fading night that shrouded Los Angeles. I really did like California. But I think I'll move to Montana next, pretty far way. If I can get away from Castiel that is. Tears welled in my eyes at the thought of leaving him. I didn't want to, that was for certain. I knew this day would come, but did it have to come so soon?


	21. Off the Coast of Nowhere

Around dawn we stopped in a little town not any map in the country. I'm pretty sure it doesn't even show up on Google Earth. Little place called Rosecliff, California, around 300 miles east of L.A. With Castiel driving, it doesn't take long to get anywhere. Castiel hadn't said anything since the hotel earlier, and I doubt either of us wanted to talk first. Rosecliff luckily had a small little motel, if you could call it that. It was actually just the extra house on some cute little old lady's land. She was only too happy to let "such a spry young couple" stay in her boarding house. People in California were kinda weird… But back to reality, Aria, stop spacing out and traveling down memory lane. Castiel plopped down on the only bed in the room, and stared at the ceiling. I decided to take a shower rather than face his wrath just yet. I went into the bathroom and turned the water on in the shower. I smiled at the faucet, it was the same one back home in Russia. No, Russia is not my home, and it never will be again. That simple. I would never have a home, or kids either for that matter. I couldn't have kids. I could thank Dimitri for that. I had always wanted a kid though… but that's beside the point. Tears mingled with the warm water rinsing the day from my body. As soon as Castiel was asleep, I was gone. I was about to wash my hair when I realized there was no shampoo. I looked around the bathroom, but there wasn't anything. After all this was only a house that was rented out by whomever happened to need it, why had I expected there to be shampoo? Good thing I always had some. I didn't really feel like getting out of the shower to go get my shampoo. And even if he was mad at me, walking around dripping wet in only a towel didn't seem like the best idea when rooming with a certain Mr. Stone. I figured he'd at least have the decency to hand me the shampoo from the door without invading the bathroom, so I decided to just ask him to get it out of my backpack. Plus me asking something would probably lighten the mood between us a bit.

"Hey Castiel, I forgot my shampoo in my backpack, can you get it for me please?' I spoke over the noise of the shower. The flat reply of "Sure." came almost instantaneously. I turned my attention back to the water running over me. I had started to daydream again when I heard Castiel muttering expletives, right before he stalked into the bathroom and wrenched the curtain back. With a shriek I ripped it away from him before he could see anything.

"What the hell is your problem?! I just wanted my shampoo!" He blushed slightly then turned around and handed me a towel. I stared at him, only my face not hidden by the, wait a second, clear curtain?! Ugh he could still see me! I snatched the towel and wrapped it around myself, placing my hand on my hips while I exited the tub. I repeated my earlier question only to be turned on with a glare that would have had Satan himself praying for mercy. I cringed, not gonna lie. Castiel grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the bathroom. He marched me across to the bed and jerked me down onto it. To stunned to move, I watched as he walked over to the little desk facing the floor-length window that spanned on side of the room. He grabbed my backpack and slung it down beside me. He yanked out the clothes on top, throwing them behind him, then pulled out my fake ids and cash. He opened up a few of them and held them up for my inspection.

"What the hell is this Pixie? Fake ids, thousands in cash, your life in a backpack? What the hell are you running from? Why do you have all this stuff? Who the hell had this kind of stuff just in their backpack as if its normal? What the hell is going on? Who the hell are you really?" My pallor must have been heartbreaking in the extreme, because the fire in his eyes dulled ever so slightly. I had to admit how stupid I was though. All this time I was afraid of someone going through my pack, but not Castiel. And ironically enough, who is it that finds me out? He sighed and drew away from me. He ran his hands through his crimson hair and stared out the window. I knew I would never get away without telling him. So I decided to finally tell the truth, and damn the consequences. Castiel Stone brought this upon himself, and he would regret it later, but it was his decision.


	22. Answers and Locked Doors

Castiel's P.O.V.

"Hannah." She said quietly, almost so faint I couldn't hear it. I whirled around to face her.

"What was that?" Aria pulled her knees to her chest and stared at me with those mysterious purple eyes through a curtain of wet, blonde hair. Her eyes held such a rage of emotions I couldn't begin to pick them apart.

"Hannah. Hannah Romanov. That's my real name. I'm originally from Russia. I didn't lie about that much at least." Her eyes hardened in accusation, daring me to say something I shouldn't. I just stared right back. I waited for her to continue. It was several minutes before she did so, but I didn't care. I wanted answers. She looked past me as she started again.

Aria's P.O.V.

**FLASHBACK**

_Father looked at me from across the table. His eyes hardened in determination, the kind that I couldn't match. I sighed, it must be important if he won't let me go to my room._

_"You have been promised to someone Hannah." I abruptly looked up. Promised? What? I'm only 15, girls are never promised until they're at least 16 because that's the age of consent and anything less will get you in serious trouble. I stared at my father, he had to be joking. But the look in his eyes clearly told me he wasn't kidding. I swallowed the soup I had nearly spit out in shock and asked,_

"_Who?" I put another spoonful in my mouth, rolling the flavorless stew around while I waited for his response._

"_Dimitri Eristov." He said it casually. I began to choke on my soup. I finally got started breathing again and turned to stare at my father. Was he crazy? Dimitri Eristov? Really? I had no idea what awaited me when that happened. Something about him had always scared me. There was just this air about him. He was intimidating, strong, devilish and never took no for an answer. Whatever he wanted, he got. And he wanted me? What the hell for? Honestly, I was nothing special to look at. Sure my eyes were interesting, after all they were naturally violet colored, but the rest of me was common. Long black hair, normal teenage girl body, maybe a bit generous but hey no big deal right? I decided not to worry about it. Bad mistake on my part._

_6 months later- ER_

_I watched without tears as they pulled the plug. My father's heart monitor flat-lined, and Dimitri pulled me close, pretending to comfort me. But his grip was painful, not comforting. To anyone else though, they never would have known. I was escorted away from the body and back to the waiting room. Dimitri sat me down next to him and held my hand, in a grip of iron. As if I'd try to run. I tried to tell dad what he had already done, nothing really bad at that point, only caused a couple bruises, but still I had tried to tell dad what happened and Dimitri had him dealt with. And look how he ended up. It was a good thing I has always hated the man, I felt no remorse at his death. More like resentment. He left without any cares and I got stuck with Dimitri. Had dad not died I might have stood a chance of getting out of this marriage, but not anymore. I snapped out of my daze when I heard part of Dimitri's conversation with my father's lawyer._

_"… stipulates you have to have her for at least a year before you get everything."_

_"Alright. So there are no objections to her living with me now? Even though she's a minor? I know the age of consent is 16, and she's only 15, but-"_

_"No, there are no objections. That package you gave the official took care of that. She's yours, and you can do whatever the hell you want. Just so long as I don't get called out because they found her body you'll be fine." I could feel Dimitri's sinister smile on me as he replied,_

_"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. She'll be put to good use, no point in wasting good material."_

_My only thought pattern: Shit._

_From that moment on, pain was my ever present companion. Dimitri hurt me in every way he could. My pain brought him more pleasure than pleasure itself. Every single night, he was in me and on me, experimenting of how to make me scream. That's all he ever seemed to want, me in pain. Oh and my family's money. As if he didn't have enough already._

_I had been with Dimitri for seven months when I found out. I knew something had been off for a while now, but now I knew. I was pregnant. With Dimitri's child. I was 16. Talk about a panic attack. Well of course Dimitri found out. I had never been beaten so severely before, and I ended up in the hospital for a week. I lost the baby, much to the pleasure of a certain Mr. Dimitri Eristov. He never wanted a scare like that again, so when I was out of the hospital he made it to where I could never have that kind of trouble again. I still have the scar to prove it. Only Natasha knew about everything, she was my only friend. I turned to her for advice, and she helped me plan. Everything was in order._

_Week later- ER_

_I watched with tears as they pulled the plug. Natasha's heart monitor flat-lined and Dimitri pulled me close, pretending to comfort me. Déjà vu. It was my fault. If I hadn't dragged her into my problems she wouldn't be dead. But she would tell me she didn't care, to just focus on getting away. So I promised her dying form I would get away from Dimitri. So that's exactly what I did. After he fell asleep that night I snuck out of the house, through the woods and into the city. I stole a car and headed to Kiev. I created a fake identity. Hannah Romanov no longer exists._

Castiel's P.O.V.

"The rest is history. I move every five or six months so I'm not in the same place for too long. I knew Dimtri would be looking for me in America, it doesn't make sense to go anywhere else. But I didn't expect to find him instead of the other way around. He was at the concert Castiel. And I know he recognized me, he gave me that smile that was only ever around when something really bad was about to happen. So that's why I was so scared, why I still am. Dimitri has taken everything from me, my father, my home, my ability to have a baby, my life. He took my old life and forced me into this one. Constantly running. And now that he's found me the stakes are simply higher." She glared at me in the creeping darkness. Fire danced in her eyes, a tsunami of anger and hatred rearing back, threatening to converge on me. I blinked, that kind of rage, I had never seen it before. I swallowed the foot that had been stuck in my mouth and apologized.

"Pixie, I- I'm sorry, I didn't know-" She cut me off.

"How would you have known? No apology is necessary." I walked over and sat on the bed, placing a hand on her bare shoulder. She jerked away, the fire in her eyes igniting again.

"I don't need your sympathy Castiel! And I don't want it! I survived this long without it and I can survive a little longer! This is my life and my problem and I'm stuck with it! I'm glad it happened to me and not someone else though, I doubt anyone would have the strength to do what I'm doing. This is my life, and being sorry and crying won't help, so there's no point in doing it. Now if you'll excuse me, I never finished my shower."

The door slammed and the lock had a resounding click as it slid into place. Ok… not the response I was expecting. Should I believe her? I mean honestly, that's the kind of story that belongs in a fan fiction, not someone's actual life… I mean really. Now a girl in an abusive relationship isn't all that uncommon but that was a drastic over exaggeration… right? I sighed, no clear answers. I though about her telling the story though. She had teared up at times, and looked the kind of angry that you can't imitate… I got up and paced around the small room. I wanted to believe her. Her backpack caught my eye again. I stopped pacing and stared at it. If Aria had been lying, why on earth would she have fake ids? Or enough cash to get you to the other side of the country and start a new life? It made sense really. Her story matched up with everything in that backpack… I decided to look through it again, I doubted anything else I did would make her angrier than she already was, so what did I have to loose? _That last tiny bit of a possible iota of trust she might still have in you maybe?_ Damn conscience. Oh well, it had been silent up till meeting Aria anyways. The contents of the backpack were emptied onto the bed and spread out. Clothes… ids… cash… pictures… notebook… wait, pictures? I pulled them put of the little baggie they were in and sat cross legged on the bed.

The pictures were of Aria, only she had black hair. She was smiling and doing the peace sign, just like the girl next to her. The other girl was a brunette with chocolate colored eyes. I flipped through all the pictures then returned to the first one. Aria looked happiest in this one. She and her friend had an arm wrapped around each other while their other hands made the peace sign. I turned the picture around to see if there was anything written on it. There was. Only, it didn't look English. I had no idea what most of the symbols meant, even if I could recognize a few characters. I was so engrossed in my search that I didn't hear Aria approach.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing Cassy? Who gave you permission to go through my personal life? Wasn't the story enough for you?" Her eyes welled up with tears, but she still glared at me and crossed her arms. I ignored her attitude and asked,

"Pixie, what's this say?" I held up the back of the picture. She smirked and said something very odd that didn't sound much like words. It sounded more like someone trying to speak right after their voice box had been removed. My intelligent response:

"Huh?" The smirk widened and she walked past me to the window. She refused to acknowledge me. Well this would be fun. _You've done it now Castiel, as if dragging her past out of her and scaring her half to death in the process wasn't enough you had to go off and go through her stuff. Smart move. No really, I mean it. This coming from your conscience. Not that it means much since you NEVER LISTEN TO ME ANYHOW!_ Heave great mental sigh. A brilliant thought lodged itself in my brain and I acted before thinking. I walked over and grabbed her, pushing her against the wall nearest the window. She just glared at me.

"Go to hell Castiel, and let go of me on the way down will you?" I smirked at her. No way was I letting go, not until she didn't hate me anymore. I pinned her arms against her sides and pushed my body against hers so she couldn't move. The fire in her eyes was a mixture of three things; hatred, anger, and a tiny wee bit, just barely noticeable spark of passion. I was aiming for that spot. I kissed her none too gently and held it as long as I could without breathing. When I came up for air the hatred had disappeared and the anger started to fade. Good, just a little bit longer and she'd be putty in my hands. I kissed her again, deeper this time, trying different things to distract her. I pulled away again to check my progress. Pretty good, passion brighter, but anger too. Hmm, how to remedy that? Oh I know. I smiled at her and pressed a quick kiss on her lips before moving to her ear. I kissed right below it and said

"I'm really sorry I forced it out of you. Please, please forgive me. I won't stop until you do anyway, so take all the time your conscience needs." I began to kiss down her neck then, stopping every once in a while to suck on a particularly soft spot. I smiled against her skin, she was gonna hate me when she saw the hickey in the morning. But I certainly liked giving it to her. It would be worth it. She hadn't said anything in response to my comment so I decided to remind her. I repeated myself then kissed her full on again, preventing a response. I left her lips and trailed my own back down her neck again, being daring and exploring a little bit lower, I traced her collar bone with my hand and she shivered. I looked up at her eyes again.

"Well Pixie, what'll it be? Am I forgiven?" She opened her mouth to say something when my cell phone rang. Relief crossed over her face and I'm sure anger over mine. I was about to head for the phone when she darted away from me and snatched it up.

"Hello? Yah, he's here… Yah… No… You sure? Well alright then… yah, no actually we can't… well, we're… no we're not! You didn't let me finish jackass, I was going to say we're in Rosecliff… yes, as in California… hell if I know… actually he's busy right now… in the shower… no, Dajan, I will NOT go get him. Get over it… so you'll just stay on a while? Alright… Hold that thought." She turned to me, hand over the receiver.

"It's Dajan. He wanted to talk to you about me, so I decided you were busy. You might as well go shower, he wants girl advice." She rolled her eyes at the last part, indicating my thoughtless actions had been a good idea after all. She started talking into the phone again and I headed for the shower.

Aria laid on the bed diagonally, on her stomach, feet kicking the air behind her. She was still on the phone. I squeezed the water out of my crimson hair and rolled my eyes at the image. Aria, on the phone. With one of my guy friends. Weird… I walked over and snatched the phone.

"Hey! I was talking on that thank you!" She pouted. She was adorable when she pouted. I rolled my eyes at her and she crossed her arms.

"Yo."

"Hey dude! So why ya in Cali?"

"Ask Lys. That's all you've got to say? Or did you call for a reason?"

"Oh Aria already helped with that but I still-"

"Bye Dajan see ya Monday." I hung up before he could say anything else. Pixie sat there sulking. It was rather funny. She looked up at me and gave me a half-hearted glare.

"You're mean, ya jerkface. I was talking to Dajan…" I rolled my eyes again and noticed her pajamas for the first time. Mental dog whistle. Damn, she looked good. Short, silky, and relatively low cut. Not to mention a tad bit of lace on the bottom. Did I mention the entire thing was black and the lace just so happened to be a lovely shade of my favorite color? And her pretty little face was beginning to turn the same shade of red. Haha. I was right about to go for her when she dove beneath the covers and switched off the light.

"Oh come on! That's not fair Pixie! You shouldn't have worn that if you didn't want to run the risk of having it ripped off! Besides, now I can't see and I'm going to run into something…" As if to prove a point my body became magnetized to the closest solid-pain-inflicting object, aka the desk. A string of expletives followed and I heard Aria giggle. Oh well, it probably was funny. At least she wasn't mad any more. I finally managed to get to the bed. I fell onto it and then climbed in. I reached for Aria as soon as I was settled, and apparently surprised her, because she let out a squeak. It was funny too. I laughed quietly at her, and I felt her turn away from me in mock anger. Or maybe it was real. I mentally shrugged, I was pretty sure we were ok anyway. I wrapped my arms around her waist and tangled the rest of me with her. I rested my head where her neck met her shoulder and whispered in her ear,

"Thank you."


	23. Tears Start Fires

Aria's P.O.V.

"Thank you." Castiel whispered in my ear. I resisted the urge to shiver, his voice sent shivers down my spine on a regular basis, much less in the whole invasion of personal bubble space thing we had going on right now. My heart rate picked up and I tried to remain calm. I loved the way he felt against me, there was no denying it. At this point I'm pretty sure that if he kissed me, I'd let him do whatever the hell he wanted. My stupid hormones were out of whack, I'm sure. There is NO other reason that I would think that way. None. I was lying there dreaming about what I wish Cassy would just do to me when I finally realized something kind of important. He was asleep. I doubt I had ever been as disappointed as I was then. With a sigh I snuggled more against him, settling in for sleep. I thought about what had happened today. I was forcibly dragged across California, forced to tell the truth about my running away and why, developed a hatred for Castiel that was quickly alleviated due to his amazing kissing ability, and nearly taken advantage of by the self same winged Skulls fan. Sheesh, what a day.

* * *

I blinked. The early morning sunlight shined throughout the small room, bathing everything in a light shade of gold. Castiel's hair looked orange. I resisted the urge to giggle. It was really funny to me, I don't know why. Castiel with hair that looked a lot like Iris's… was a funny thought. I decided to play with his hair, the urge was too great to resist. His hair was soft and silky, exactly like I thought it would be. I ran both hands through his hair while I thought about the day before and he continued to sleep. I hadn't had my nightmare. Second time since Russia, second time I had slept with Castiel uninterrupted, coincidence? Probably not. But having finally told someone what happened probably helped too… I sighed and wished I could just stay in Rosecliff and have nothing to run from. I would stay anywhere if I never had to run from Dimitri again… the new memory of his knowing, gloating smile flashed through my mind. It definitely bummed my mood. Castiel stirred in his sleep, and I stopped playing with his hair. I blushed just thinking about having to explain why I was playing with his hair when he woke up… yah, no, I'd really rather avoid that.

"Good morning Pixie." Castiel yawned and stretched, then turned to face me. He ran a hand through his hair, probably expecting to comb out some tangles, but I had already done that. I blushed slightly and giggled at his confused expression. He turned to look at me and saw my coloring, then smirked,

"You were playing with my hair weren't you? Of course you were. Now its only fair I return the favor. Maybe pay interest yah?" His smirk widened as he grabbed me. I let out a squeak and tried to get away. Yah, right. Fighting a wall of pure, gorgeous muscle, and expecting to win. Yah, cause that makes sense. Castiel had me pinned beneath him and his lips on mine before I could even blink. After a few moments he pulled away for a breath, and it was clear he wasn't planning on stopping. But then his stomach growled. Haha, perfect timing. He frowned at his abdomen, seemingly scolding it. I laughed, and used his distraction to get away from him. I raced to the bathroom and grabbed my backpack on the way in. I locked the door just as he turned the knob. Ha, I win! I took my time changing and doing morning stuff. Why not punish him for treating me so terribly so early in the morning? I finished up then headed outside to see if Castiel was ready to leave yet. He was just grabbing his shirt when I came out. I was totally distracted. Hey don't look at me that way with that of-course-you-were-after-all-he's-Castiel look that I know you're wearing right now! Put yourself in my position (as if you'd wanna be here) and then picture a certain tall-handsome-pure-muscle-toned-six-pack-possessin g-red-headed-Winged-Skulls-rebel. Now take his shirt off. Now do you understand? Thought so.

"Pixie, you might as well stop drooling, you passed up your opportunity to get me out of the pants too earlier. So now you'll have all day to scold yourself for not taking advantage of me." He winked as he pulled on his shirt. My face must have been the same color of his hair. Again.

"So where are you dragging me today?" he looked up from packing his stuff in his duffle bag and looked at me. He just searched my face for a minute, then replied

"Have you ever been to Disney Land?"

* * *

I flopped on the bed of the hotel room overlooking L.A. We had driven four hours to get back to L.A., then spent then next six or so running around Disney Land like a pair of 8 year-olds. It was fun, but now I was exhausted. Castiel dropped down next to me with a quiet thud and a groan. I smirked at him, it wasn't often he was too tired to mess with me. He just glared at me, he probably knew exactly what I was thinking. He knew me well enough at this point.

"You're thinking about how you can smirk because I'm too tired to do anything aren't you? Well," -here, he moved faster than should be humanly possible and was on top of me with my arms pinned to my sides- "You should think before you do something like smirk at me again. Now you'll have to be punished, seeing as how you think you can treat me however you want…" He trailed off as his lips trailed my neck. He started to suck on one spot he seemed particularly fond of, then moved up to kiss me again. He went back to sucking on the same spot and my protests died in my throat. It felt really, really, _really_ nice. He finally moved his attention lower and gave me a split second to think. That was all the time I needed. As soon as his hands started going places they shouldn't I kicked him in the family jewels and squirmed out from under him while he rolled around in pain.

"That- that, Pixie, was a really low blow." He groaned and started again. "Like, a really, really low blow." I smirked and laughed maniacally at his pain.

"Well your hands shouldn't have been as low as they were now should they? That might teach you a little about exploring lower yah?" He glared at me.

"You'll pay for that." I waved a hand dismissively and hopped off the bed.

"Yah, yah, sure whatever floats your boat." I crossed to the window. I could see the stadium where the concert had been from here. Dimitri's face flashed before me as if he had been right there. I shuddered at the memory, and was reminded that no matter how long I stayed in L.A. he'd figure out I didn't live here. When he did he'd use what he knew about me to figure out where I really live. Then he would find me and take me back to Russia. Not a fun thought. I was so lost in thought I didn't recognize Castiel's reflection as his until after I had flinched under his gentle placement of a hand on my shoulder. His reflection looked concerned as it stared back at mine. I focused my gaze outside the window again, avoiding him. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and kissed my neck, then rested his chin on my shoulder. I didn't shove him away, but I didn't respond to his touch. I could tell by the way he held me he was tense and unhappy with how I was acting. I thought about everything that had happened over the last week or so. I hadn't cried about it yet, and I really needed to. I didn't want Castiel to see me fall apart, so I had kept it in. But right now, with him just holding me and not asking for answers or anything else, I really wanted to just cry my eyes out. Tears filled my eyes as I thought about my luck. I could finally cry on someone else's shoulder instead of my own, and be comforted by something other than my unsympathetic conscience. The opportunity was too great to pass up and so I just turned around and buried my face in his chest without an explanation. He didn't question it, just picked me up and carried me to the bed without a word. He laid down next to me as I curled my body against his. He just held me while I cried, saying only the one thing:

"I love you."

It made me cry harder, his admitting that to me, even when I hadn't said it first. Even when he knew I wasn't likely to say it back, ever. I cried until there were no tears left, then let Castiel comfort me. He didn't kiss me, just held me in a suffocating grip. I fell asleep wishing, not for the first time, things could be different.

The next day we really started back to Amoris. We stopped about half way up the Californian coast for the night. A tiny little no name town- literally. The town didn't have a name, and it was settled right on the water line. But anyways, we did manage to get a little cottage for a night. After a quick meal at the one little diner we went for a walk on the beach. Neither one of us mentioned my break down from last night, it was over and done with. Castiel and I had left our shoes at the beach house, and walked in the surf rather than just the sand. Castiel looked down at me, his grey eyes silver in the frosty moonlight. The breeze whipped at his crimson hair, dulled to a pale red by the dark surroundings.

"Déjà vu, dontchya think? Only last time all the guys were waiting back at the house, wondering just what we were really doing…" he laughed a little at the end, then grabbed hold of my hand to stop me. I turned to face him, not knowing quite what to expect. The flood of lust and raw desire in his silvery eyes was definitely not it though. That was about all I had time to think about before his mouth descended on mine.


	24. Aches and Ecstasy

Before I could really grasp what we were doing I found myself kissing Castiel back just as urgently. My hands tangled in his soft hair, and I pressed my aching body against his, wrapping a leg around him, trying to get closer for a better kiss. He groaned and pulled back, pushing me away from him. I blinked and tried to regain my senses after the abrupt loss of contact. Did he not want to? No way! He was not getting away with getting me that excited and ready for him only to stop himself. Not happening, sorry. His slightly heavy breathing betrayed his true intent though. I glared at him.

"Now listen here Cassy, there is no way in hell you are going to make me that needy and then suddenly decide you have a conscience!" He blinked in surprise and blushed, looking away at the receding tide, mumbling something. I put my hands on my hips and moved to stand in front of him.

"What are you mumbling about? As astonishing as this is going to sound coming from me, just do me already! If you don't stop teasing my traitorous body and just take me I'll hate you forever." He looked straight at me and I thought I might get what I wanted. But no he had to talk instead.

"Pixie, you have no earthly idea what it is taking me not to do exactly what you want me to, but I can't. Not right now." I stared at him, uncomprehending.

"Why the hell not?!" He blushed again and said

"Because I don't have any protection Pixie. I'm not going to risk that." I laughed, I couldn't help it. It was ridiculous, Castiel Stone, not prepared? Playboy and tease that he was? It was absurd! Castiel glared at me with a face that matched the hair.

"Stop laughing. This was definitely not part of the plan tonight ok? Ok, well maybe later on but not right now…" I stopped laughing and stared at him.

"Were you not listening? I can't get pregnant Castiel. Dimitri took that from me remember? Inability to have baby = ability to have un-protected sex. With that said-" That did it. He was on me in seconds. My thoughts ceased, with the exception of the occasional _stop teasing me and do it already!_ He tossed me down on the sand and kissed me until I couldn't breathe. Then he did it again. I lost track of everything he did. Our progress was only stopped once, when he had gotten down to my bra. His confused expression was sorely misplaced at a time like this.

"Pixie, why do you have a switchblade in your bra?" I gave a quick laugh and gasped "Self defense." as he removed both bra and knife from me and did wicked terrible things. After a good long while things started to heat up. I'm pretty sure if we had been in water it would have been boiling. It was well past midnight when we figured it was time to get back to the beach house. I was tired now, and sleep sounded like a wonderful idea. We showered and rid ourselves of the sand we both got covered in, (yes together in answer to that question I know you're asking. Can you blame me though?) then headed to bed. We hadn't done anything in the shower besides wash sand out of places it shouldn't be mind you. We climbed into bed and Castiel kissed me goodnight. Only that started a something that would take a whole other chapter, so we won't go into that. It was dawn by the time we stopped torturing each other. I fell asleep to Castiel's steady breathing, fairly pleased with the way the night had turned out.

* * *

I blinked in the afternoon light and shivered. I had nothing on me. I really hoped Castiel wasn't awake yet. I hadn't slept in anything (I was way too tired to move after THAT) and pajamas hadn't seemed like a good enough reason to get up. Plus a little fun fact about Castiel: cover stealer. So hence my waking up in nothing. Blushing profusely at the memories and my current state I lunged to grab the covers and immediately regretted it. Everything ached. Bad. Castiel had not been gentle, but I hadn't wanted him to be, so I think it was worth it. It certainly had been at the time anyway. My little squeak of pain drew Castiel from sleep's shores and back to the land of the waking. He yawned and blinked lazily, his sprawled out position reminding me very much of a cat. I giggled at that, quite a mistake. His attention was immediately drawn to me and my… _situation_. He smirked at me. Probably thinking about how pleased he was with himself for screwing me senseless last night. But I couldn't argue, he had done exactly that. Don't look at me that way, I've never really had a good grasp on being subtle, or being shameful while discussing my sex life. Oh well, back to the current moment.

"Good morning Pixie. I'll say one thing about last night. Let's do it again some time." Huh, wonder why. Might because it's me you're talking about? I'm rather experienced at this kind of thing. I was blushing I just know it. I tried to get away but he grabbed me. Of course he grabbed me. He's Castiel. I was pinned beneath him in an instant. He smirked down at me and started where we left off last night. He kissed me very thoroughly and then continued down my neck. He stopped at the spot he always seemed to spot at, and sucked on the now sensitive skin. I squirmed and tried to get away. How in the hell was he ready just like that? I couldn't handle another bout right now, I would break.

"Castiel, stop. Please stop-" He stopped kissing my neck and brought his stormy grey lust filled gaze to mine and smiled at me.

"That's what you said last night if I'm not mistaken. Right when I-" I cut him off with a glare, he had better not say what he did to me out loud.

"But tell me, had I stopped, would you still love me right now? Probably not." I glared at him and waited for his anatomy to spontaneously ignite. But of course not, because Karma hates me.

"I can't handle you _again_ Castiel. I'm sore _everywhere_. I haven't been this sore since…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. I didn't need to. Both of us knew who I was talking about. Castiel just nodded and kissed me softly, then let me up.

"You catch a few more winks, I'm gonna shower real quick. Then you can go and we'll leave. We have, um, lost time to make up for." He actually blushed then went into the bathroom and I heard the shower turn on. I closed my eyes and forced myself to bring the covers to my chin despite the pain it caused.

I twirled my hair into a bun and pinned it so I didn't have to wash it. I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to see if there was a noticeable difference in my appearance. I didn't see anything. I climbed into the shower when something on my neck caught my eye. What was THAT?!

Castiel's P.O.V.

Aria shrieked from inside the bathroom and ran out of it with a really, _really_, short towel tightly wrapped around her body. Don't drool. Don't. Its not a turn-on. I valiantly refrained from laughter as I asked,

"What's the matter Pixie?" her look of pure "go to hell" and female anger was quite amusing. She glared and spat out,

"What the hell is THIS?!" She pointed to a rather apparent hickey on a not so noticeable part of her pretty little neck. I decided to have some fun with her. I slowly walked towards her and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back, pulling her to me. She struggled of course. Whatever. I caressed the spot where the hickey was and leaned in to whisper in her ear,

"Looks to me like a hickey. But I guess that means people will know you're mine. Wouldn't want anyone thinking he can have you. You're mine Pixie, all mine." I kissed right below her ear then reached up and nipped her lobe. Her little intake of air had me hard in an instant. Damn. I really wanted her, but we had to leave, and she really did look sore. I was a bit sore myself. Aria was rather… _enthusiastic_. I looked into her lust tinted violet eyes, seeing exactly what I felt, and released her.

"Go take a shower Pixie. And hurry up, if you don't I WILL come in after you. But then I can guarantee that we'll be leaving even later than we're going to." She blanched a bit but smiled seductively all the same. Jesus she had no idea what she was doing to me! It was becoming a literal physical pain. She just walked to the bathroom and left the door open. Oh come on that's cheating! How in the hell am I supposed to resist if she LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN?! This was punishment for kidnapping her I just knew it. Sigh, oh well. I steeled my resolve and walked past the door. I walked around the tiny little town looking for some place to get a little breakfast. I ended up at the same little diner we ate at last night. They had homemade donuts. I smiled as I bought a box, Aria was going to hate me, and claim I was trying to fatten her up.

"As good as these are, are you trying to fatten me up? Maybe eat me for a midnight snack?" See? Told you so. But I smirked at her.

"Well, I don't plan on fattening you up, but making you a midnight snack sounds like a good idea. But I don't like the midnight part. I'd rather make you dessert if you don't mind." She turned bright red and rolled her eyes in an attempt to make it seem like she wasn't affected by it. Yah, because I'll believe that. We finished up the donuts and threw away the box. Time to go home. Sigh, back to normal life. What fun.


	25. Frightened Flight

Aria's P.O.V.

It had been two weeks since I had seen Dimitri at the NRMC. Nothing had been out of the ordinary, and I was starting to get jumpy. Castiel hadn't been acting any different than he had been before our trip. We hadn't slept over either, and that was disappointing, I'm not gonna lie. We randomly went to the park with Demon or hung over in the afternoons, but he hadn't ever stayed at my place or vise versa. I couldn't fathom why he hadn't done more than kiss me lately. Maybe he was trying to show that he wasn't a sex-crazed animal always ready and wanting? I wouldn't care if he was… but anyways. I was on my way home from Castiel's. We had done nothing all afternoon. Literally. Laid around watching zombie movies (can't help it I love them), and did absolutely nothing the entire time. I unlocked my door and went through the same routine as always, backpack by the door, keys on table, pull hair out of pony tail, grab book from shelf, turn to go to couch. Only this time when I turned around, there was a person already on the couch, smiling. Dimitri.

Castiel's P.O.V.

THUD.

I opened my eyes and groaned. I just got in the shower, why on earth was Demon acting so stupid right when I decide to do something? Oh well, he can get over it.

THUD THUD THUD

The thudding continued for another minute or two and I got fed up. I shut off the shower grabbed a towel and walked out, not bothering to dry off. Walking down the stairs I looked for Demon, ready to give him a what for when something banged on the door.

THUD THUD THUD

Good god what did they want? I was in the middle of showering. Demon crossed into the kitchen, alerting me that it was in fact the person at the door that was making all the racket. I stalked over to the door and yanked it open. The only thing I saw was a flash of gold and purple. Aria ran inside the house without a word, and promptly hid herself in a cabinet. I blinked and closed the door, mentally scratching my head. Not unusual for Aria to come running into my house and hiding in a cabinet, not unusual at all, really. I turned and walked over to the cabinet, opening it up. Aria was crouched inside with her knees to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her unbound hair obscured her face and pooled around her. I reached out and she flinched. What happened? Did someone do something to her? Whoever it was was going to die if they hurt her. She looked up at me through tear filled eyes.

"He's here."

"What? Who's here?" She looked at me with eyes that would make a hardened war veteran cry. Her lip trembled as she said,

"Dimitri. Castiel, he found me." I felt all the blood pool from my face and dread curl in my stomach. I grabbed hold of her shoulders.

"Where?"

"At my house. He was just… there. I opened the door and went about like normal and was about to sit down and read a book and there he was, just sitting on the couch. But I was smart. I threw my book at his face and ran for the door. I didn't bother with the backpack, I just had to- had to-" She started crying. I hauled her out of the cabinet and pulled her against me, I doubted she cared I was wet. I held her for a little while, until she composed herself. She sniffed and pulled away, noticing for the first time my lack of apparel. Despite knowing exactly what she wasn't seeing she blushed. It was cute. But then the shadow that had momentarily disappeared returned. She looked at her feet.

"Castiel, I- I need to say goodbye. I have to leave. And there's no way I can come back. It just can't happen. Dimitri, he- he-" Her lip started trembling again so I stopped it with a gentle kiss.

"You're staying. There's no way I'm gonna let some punk Russian guy who thinks he owns you scare you off. I worked hard to get you where we are, and I'm not giving that up. You can stay here." She blinked then started to protest.

"But Castiel-" I cut her off by placing my finger over her lips. Our gazes held and we had a silent argument. I must have won, because she looked away pained. I took her chin in my hand and turned her to face me. The tears were back, and so was the worry. I had to change that. I smirked at her, and almost immediately she got confused. Good.

"Well now that we've decided that you're staying here, we have stuff to do." She looked at me suspiciously. I slapped on a look of mock hurt and placed a hand on my heart.

"What? You don't want to stay here? Well too damn bad, you're staying, and you're staying in my room, in my bed. Get over it. Now that that's out of the way, let's go take a shower." She had a chance to squeak and that's about it. I had her over my shoulder and up the stairs in seconds. Once in the bathroom I turned the water back on and turned to face her, only to be kissed senseless. Ok, that's a new one. I smiled down at her and slipped my fingers under the hem of her shirt.

* * *

We established a routine over the next little while. Aria drove with me to school. I took her home from school. After about two days we had dropped by her house and Dimitri had been gone. We moved all her necessity stuff and went back to my place. The past two weeks or so had gone by relatively quiet. I had missed at least 6 band practices, but I didn't really care. Right now I was in basketball practice with Aria on the bleachers. I took a moment and stole a glance at her. Her delicate brow was furrowed in concentration, probably Calculus. She glanced up at me. I smiled, she was so beautiful, whether she was frowning or smiling. I couldn't imagine life without that face right beside me. If Dimitri found her, he'd take her away. I couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't let that happen. I stood there daydreaming until a ball hit me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. Dajan glared at me and growled,

"Get it together man. If you can't make time for the band YOU started, at least stay focused on the court!" I glared right back at him. They had no idea the situation we were in. It's not like I could tell them anyhow. The guys loved Aria, and loved that I finally found a girl that I didn't want to loose. But they hated that I was "obsessing" over her. That's what Lysander had said on Tuesday. He had pulled me into a dark corner of the school and given me an earful of exactly what I didn't want to hear. I didn't care that I had missed a lot of practices. I didn't care that I seemed stalkerish, because I never let Ariana out of my sight. What I DID care about was keeping her safe, keeping her away from this Dimitri. I decided to stop intentionally pissing off my friends, at least right now. I got so focused I never saw Aria leave. When practice was over everyone headed to the locker room and I headed for the bleachers, only to stop short upon noticing they were empty.

No Pixie.


	26. Snacks Aren't Free

Aria's P.O.V.

Castiel's basketball practice never seemed to end. Neither did my homework. With a sigh I went back to trying to figure out my next quadratic equation. I just couldn't figure it out. Chills suddenly ran down my back. Someone was watching me. Not just anyone. _Him._ Dimitri. I could feel it. I looked around, not expecting to see him, half wanting to just so I could lay my mind to rest about his actual being here. I saw Castiel staring and smiling at me. I blushed and went back to Calculus, trying to keep my mind on numbers and out of the bedroom. Having Cassy in close vicinity, without a shirt on, was a very tempting picture indeed. But the middle of practice was not the time to do… that. I finished up my Calculus and looked around for something to do. I realized leaving probably wasn't a good idea, but I was going stir crazy under Castiel's protectiveness. I was happy he didn't want to loose me, but not letting me out of his sight? It was a bit much. I was worried about Dimitri, to be sure, but this was getting extreme. He hadn't shown up since I found him in my house. I knew that just meant he was planning something, but I was actually ok with that. I would run when I had to, but until then I was staying with Cassy. I was going to stay with him as long as I could. Once I got back from my little snack hunt anyways. When he wasn't looking I slipped out of the gym. I wandered around the school for a bit, trying to remember which vending machine had those yummy peanut chocolate things that I could never remember the name of. The hallways were deserted, even Nat seemed to have gone home. What time was it? I hadn't been wandering around that long had I? I decided to go ahead and go back to the gym, and hope that Castiel hadn't noticed my absence. I walked along a darkened hallway in silence, until the silence was broken by a loud call of

"Aria!"

I knew Castiel's voice anywhere. Only I had never heard it with the note of desperation and fear before. And I had never heard it say my actual name, except when I first told him. I called back out to the voice, telling it I was there. What had him so worked up? Had he seen Dimitri? I walked in the direction I thought Cassy was in. I rounded the corner by the staircase and ran into a wall. A red-headed wall of solid muscle that softened my impact with its crushing embrace. I looked up just quick enough to see the burning anger in his slate grey eyes before he crushed his mouth to mine. I tried to resist the kiss but he pressed harder. It was actually rather painful. He pulled away and glared at me.

"Don't you ever, EVER, run off like that again!" Before I could reply he kissed me again, no gentler than before. It was a brutal kiss punctuated by his biting my bottom lip. Any other time it would have been wonderfully arousing but right now it made my stomach clench. Castiel pulled me closer and kissed me again, never letting up on the pressure. He was kissing out his anger, the anger that I caused. The realization was like a blow to my gut and a knife in my back. He backed me past the stair case and kissed me hungrily. His mouth devoured mine, biting and licking where he pleased. I was powerless against him. He opened a door beneath the stair case and pushed me inside closing it behind him. My eyes couldn't adjust to the dark fast enough, but Castiel seemed to know where he was going. His lips never left mine the entire time he navigated the room. The strength of his arms wrapped around me was suffocating. Castiel began kissing down my neck, biting none too gently whenever he felt like it. I moaned quietly in pleasure despite the pain and tried to regain my senses. Took too long though, his lips claimed mine again. I pushed against him with all my strength, a good bit, but not nearly enough needed to have any leverage against him. His tongue attacked mine and his hands fisted and slightly pulled my hair. Never had he been so rough with me before. I finally managed to get away for a split second.

"Castiel stop. Stop right now. We are not doing this here and-" he pushed me against a wall and yanked my shirt and bra off all in one swoop, kissing me again. His hands roamed my body roughly and it felt so, so incredibly good. It caught me off guard.

"Like hell we're not! You caused this Pixie, so you're gonna pay for it, in any way I see fit." He fastened his lips to mine again, even more roughly than before. This was savage, primal, and brutal. I loved it. I kissed him right back and inflicted pain of my own. By the end of it, I knew we were both gonna need ice baths tonight. It already hurt to move. I lay panting after the glorious, animalistic like sex as Castiel glared at me as he pulled his clothes back on. What the hell? Had I not made up for my little trip down the hallway? I hadn't ever done THAT before, how in the hell could it not have been enough?! So I glared right back.

"I was so freakin' worried Pixie. You have no idea. I thought, I thought he had taken you… that I would never see you again… so when I found that you had just left on your own I was mad. Really mad, as I'm sure you figured out. I'm sorry I treated you the way I did, but the thought of him getting you… hurting you… taking you away from me? I couldn't stand it. I don't wanna loose you Pixie. I CAN'T loose you. Not now. Not ever." I blinked.

He cared… that much? "I can't loose you. Not now. Not ever." Did he really mean the last part? My heart clenched and my brain sent off warning bells in my head as I told him plainly what I had known for months.

"I love you."

I said simply. No fanfare, no sighing in happiness, just a simple statement from the bottom of my heart. Some place to give a declaration of love, the hidden room beneath the staircase at your high school. Pretty melodramatic, I think. I didn't think I'd ever say it again, so I figured I'd let him know. If and when Dimitri got me back, it would be the last time I'd see Castiel. Whether that be "death do us part" or me just not seeing him again, I knew it would be the last time. I tried not to dwell on that too much as I pulled my own clothes back on. Or at least most of them. Castiel had ripped the clasp on my bra in his raging passion earlier. Heave great mental sigh. I liked that one… twas green and black… one of my favorites… pooh.

* * *

We went back to his house in silence. I wasn't sure if he had even heard me when I told him I loved him. He was still mad at me, I knew that much. Or at least I think he was. We continued with our new nightly routine, shower (individually or together depending on the mood), feed Demon, maybe watch a movie, maybe do… something else, go to bed. That simple. Only tonight, neither of us said anything. We climbed into bed, and he kept the normal routine. He curled his body around mine, using me as a body pillow. Demon had different plans however and jumped into bed with us. He drove a rift right between us, facing me as to have better access to lick my face off. Castiel's expression of anger and disbelief was utterly priceless.

"Demon you stupid mutt, I love you but I love Pixie more. And you're in the way of my showing that. So get out." He wrestled with the dog for a few minutes, and finally trumped Demon. The dog hit the floor with a growl before stalking out. Just me and Castiel alone again. Cassy just sighed heavily before getting back under the covers with me. He wrapped himself around me tighter than before, as if to prove a point.

"One of these days, Demon is gonna have to be taught a little lesson about kissing you. Only I'm allowed to do that." I rolled my eyes at him but smiled all the same. That comment meant that Cassy wasn't mad anymore. I was really relieved. The last thing my spirit could handle would be Castiel staying angry with me. I decided to say sorry.

"Cassy, I-" I swallowed my pride. I hadn't sincerely apologized in a really, really, really long time.

"I'm sorry." I kissed him gently to punctuate the sentence. He seemed ok with that and kissed me back. I was in that weird state of half consciousness where you're still awake but not really when Castiel said something. I wasn't sure, but it sounded like,

"I love you too, Pixie. More than you'll ever know." Or at least, that would make more sense. Otherwise he was asleep too and said something like

"My of blue tipsy. Walruses don't like marshmallow snow." I'm not so sure about you, but I liked the first one better.

Castiel's P.O.V.

I looked down at Aria's sleeping form and brushed a bit of golden hair out of her eyes. My hands had other plans as well, though, and they continued to stroke her face after removing the hair. As if she'd mind. She didn't seem to mind when I touched her now. Except for this afternoon. Just the memory of this afternoon's scare made my pulse race and hands sweaty. The suffocating fear I had felt for her safety was overwhelming. And worse yet, I had taken it out on her. I had been downright rough with her. I had treated her more forcibly than even I fantasized about. What I had done wasn't love making, or even sex, it had been a primal claiming, proving that she was mine. But I wasn't the only one hurting. Aria had been rough with me too, not taking no for an answer and taking whatever she wanted. The memory of the pleasure inflicting torture returned, bringing the lust with it. I sighed and rolled over, letting go of Pixie in the process. If I held on to her while I felt this way, I was bound to do something less than honorable. Just being in the same room was physically distracting, so I decided to go for a little walk around the house, rather than accidentally do something she would hate me for later.

The house was dark and completely silent. My footsteps made a slightly muffled sound as I walked to the kitchen. I didn't see the point in turning on a light and just sat at the kitchen table. Even after the feeling of needing Aria faded, something kept me glued to the chair. Something just told me I needed to stay down here for a little while longer. So I did. After about an hour I decided to abandon my conscience to guard the kitchen when something caught my eyes. Something moved outside, just enough to be noticeable. The figure didn't make a sound, and moved around as if it knew where it was going. As if it had been a while. Ice rushed through my veins and sped up my heart beat. This person was watching the house. Was it Dimitri? If he had come for Aria… I raced up the stairs and flung open the door to my room. Aria was sound asleep, and she looked just fine. I crept to the window and moved the curtain aside just the littlest bit. The shadow faced the house. Our eyes met in the darkness, and I knew it was him. The rush of anger and pure hatred was overwhelming. This was the guy that had hurt Pixie beyond what was repairable. He blinked, breaking the spell. Dimitri waved and smirked, then disappeared into the warm April night.

Aria's P.O.V.

I was awoken with a kiss. I have no idea why, but Castiel was on top of me. I didn't question it. I was too sleepy. I'm a totally different person when I'm sleepy. I act like Violette. Quiet, soft-spoken, carefree, and not really paying attention or caring about much of anything. Cassy continued to kiss down me, and I still wasn't fully functioning. When he returned to my lips however, my hormones woke up. My brain still wasn't awake, but my body was. We had a repeat of this afternoon minus the hurting each other part. I curled up to him afterward. His skin was so nice… especially when it was pressed against my unclothed body… but that's beside the point. Castiel was still randomly kissing me and/or my neck, without giving an explanation. My brain was still asleep, even after that. So with all the brain power I possessed, which wasn't much, I thought of something important.

"Cassy?"

"Hmm?" he had been kissing down my neck again and I swatted him away.

"Cassy." He opened his half closed eyes to peer at me, almost as if he was weighing the pros and cons of answering.

"Yah."

"Um, why did we do that? I mean, in the middle of the night. I was sleeping, so there wasn't anything that I could have said that could have made you come after me or whatever…" I trailed off waiting for his answer. His face hardened a bit and he rolled over to lie on his back rather than face me. What did I do? I snuggled up to his chest and threw an arm over it, resting my head on him.

"Cassy."

"Yah."

"Are you not going to tell me?" He propped himself up on an elbow and rested his head in his hand. He looked at me intently, probably trying to judge my mood so he could guess my reaction.

"I wanted to know you were safe. That you were ok, that you were here." I was too sleepy to really know what he meant so I just replied,

"Oh. Ok. Goodnight." He grunted in response then turned me back towards the wall and curled his body around mine. I smiled. A perfect fit.

"Cassy."

"Yah."

"I love you."


	27. Smothered

Cassy was even more protective than he had been. I hadn't thought it was possible, but now I wasn't even allowed to eat with only Vi and Iris, either he or one of the guys had to be there. It was getting kind of annoying. But something had to have happened the other day. He hadn't fully answered my question the other night, and he was acting even worse than before. I resolved to drag it out of him. Yelling probably wouldn't work, and I hated using crying against him. DING. Idea! Why not use his own art against him? All he had to do was kiss me just the right way and he could have whatever he wanted, whether it be my body or information. The first one was more fun. But yah. I'll just use his own art against him. I think I can do it.

Castiel's P.O.V.

I watched helplessly as Aria threw up into the biohazard container in the nurse's office. Mr. Winston just didn't seem to understand that Aria hated dissecting. Because she hated blood. But he wouldn't listen, stupid biology teacher. Aria retched a couple more times, then went to wash her face and brush her teeth with a little disposable tooth brush the nurse gave her. Mrs. Logan looked at me inquisitively as I stared after Aria, resisting the urge to follow her. She cocked her head to one side and said

"You know Castiel, I think you like her." I resisted the urge to laugh at the sweet old woman. She just gave me a warm smile and patted my knee.

"Now I don't know why you won't let her out of your sight, but take heed to the wisdom of an old woman. If you hold something too close, it's much easier to loose." I was right about to ask her what on earth she meant when Aria came back. She looked a little better now, but not much. Well no way was she finishing the day, I was taking her home. She thanked Nurse Logan for the use of her room and extra toothbrushes and turned to leave. I followed on her heels. Damn she had me following her around like a dog. Well if she wanted me to be a dog, I would be. For her. I would do just about anything for her. Except tell her what I saw a couple days ago.

* * *

I blinked in surprise. I had turned around to lock the front door behind me and when I turned back around Pixie had taken her shirt off, and was pulling her belt out of its loops with a small little seductive smile. She hooked her thumbs through her khaki short shorts and slowly pulled them downward. I stood stock still, completely mesmerized by her very sudden change in attitude. Not that I minded. I knew there was a reason behind all this, but she was really taunting me. Her smile widened just a bit as she walked up to me. Sliding a leg around my hips she pulled her body close to mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down. Our foreheads touching, her eyes burning into mine she whispered,

"Let's reverse things shall we? I've always liked being in control." I had no objections. She was in charge of the kiss. She dominated it and prevented any thought from running through my head. She pulled off my jacket and then replaced her arms. After a little longer her arms untangled themselves from my neck and she began to kiss down it, hot, open-mouthed kisses. So that's what this feels like… I couldn't stand her teasing any longer. I snatched her up and carried her upstairs, kicking my door open and sliding her onto the bed. Her arms wrapped around my neck again as I climbed on top of her. I initiated the kiss this time, and got so wrapped up in it that I didn't notice her take control. She rolled us over to where she was on top of me. She let go of my neck and pulled my shirt off then settled down on me. She placed her cool hands on the heat of my exposed chest and her eyes sparkled in mischief. She smirked a bit as she leaned in close enough to tease me with not being able to kiss her. As she traced the contours of the muscle in my chest she chuckled low in her throat, the sound going straight through me to right where it mattered.

"Now, now. I did say I was in charge right? Which means I can do whatever I like. And you know," she leaned in even closer, bringing me a beautiful view and a sultry smile.

"I've always wanted to hear you beg Castiel." I blinked in surprise. What? Who was this? Aria would never have done this. Yah, she definitely wanted something. She kissed my again and her small hands undid my belt buckle, then dipped lower. Ok, whatever it was, she could have it. No objections. If she wanted me to beg, I would beg. She pulled off her bra last and the knife she kept hidden there fell on my chest and roused me from my stupor of being taken full and complete advantage of. I kind of woke up then, and put the knife on the bedside table. Pixie looked up and began to protest at my moving without her permission, but a kiss of my own silenced her.

* * *

We lay on the couch downstairs after another rather intense bout of love making. Demon lay on the floor in front of us. Aria looked down into my eyes from her place on top of me. She pushed herself up slightly, revealing a little more of what I loved to see and making the blanket that covered us slide farther down her shoulders. I was right about to start into her again when she spoke, ruining the mood.

"Cassy." With a sigh at the ruined mood I pulled her and the blanket closer to me, removing the need to do something to her other than listen.

"Yah babe?" She searched my eyes before speaking.

"What happened on Sunday? You woke me up in the middle of the night to make love and sure that I was ok. Why? Even you have the decency to let a girl sleep, or if you don't you tell her why. You didn't do either this time. There has to be a reason for it." The last wasn't a question. It was a statement. It was clear that she had thought about this. _So this is what she wanted… quite the performance for just a question._ But I can see why she acted the way she did. If she had asked that in the middle, then there might have been a slight possibility of my telling the truth. But now, even after all the fun we had, no way was I telling her. My eyes must have answered for me because hers hardened in pain, the pain of distrust. The eyes in question filled with tears and a shaky voice accompanied them.

"Castiel, don't you trust me? I don't want to be kept in the dark if something important happens… if anything happens to you because of me…" She couldn't finish the sentence. The tears got me. So I told her what I saw. The shakes convulsing her body were no longer those of crying, but of icy terror.

"So he was watching us?" I nodded.

"Yah, it looks that way." She nodded too and then placed her tear streaked face on my chest, facing the wall, giving me a view of her profile. She was so beautiful. Even with her scars. I traced the one on her belly for a minute. Her eyes filled with new tears, and she bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes to keep them at bay. I pulled my hand back and moved some of her golden hair from her face.

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" Her angel soft voice cracked as she replied,

"No. Not physically anyway. But emotionally? Nothing compares. When I finally escape, when I want to have a family, I won't be able to. No babies from this girl. When Dimitri sliced me with that same knife on the table upstairs, he ripped something permanently. The doctors did what they could, but that was the one thing Dimitri took that I actually resent him for. I could live with the other stuff he did, but," she traced her scar with her own hand.

"This, this is unforgivable. And now he's here, wanting to do much worse than this…" Ok that's it, no more of this. I kissed her then picked her up and took her back to the bedroom. We lay down for the night, just as usual. But neither of us saw the shadowed figure watching in the darkness right outside my window.

Dimitri's P.O.V.

I watched through the window of his bedroom. The faux red head curled around Hannah, so close that it was difficult to tell the two shapes of their bodies apart. They couldn't be separated it seemed. Castiel Lane Stone… an interesting character. The town delinquent and bad boy, the type Hannah would have been sure to avoid. But somehow he had gotten to her… but none of that mattered, other than the fact it was just another problem that had to be taken care of. Hannah ought to have known better than to involve anyone other than herself in our life, Natasha's "accident" should have taught her a lesson. Oh well, I'll just be a little less merciful in dealing with Castiel. Hannah must love him very much, to allow him to do even half of what I've watched the two of them doing. She'd gotten more experienced since the last time I had her, so this weekend should prove interesting. I just need a window of opportunity and she's mine again. I'll prove once and for all that she's mine, and take her back to Russia-take her home. Everything is ready, I just need Castiel out of the way.


	28. Panic, Voicemail, and a Plan

Aria's P.O.V.

Castiel slept soundly beside me. I glanced at the glowing clock on his bedside table; 1:13 am. I had tossed and turned for hours, sleep still evading me. I thought about what Castiel had told me earlier, about Dimitri being at the house. I had hoped to have more time. I knew something had to happen soon though. Three years I had been running, only coming close to being caught once. And even then, it had been me that had seen him, not the other way around. Three years of freedom, well, if you call moving from town to town trying to avoid attention freedom. It was more freedom than I'd had in Russia.

With a sigh, I extracted myself from the sleeping Cassy's arms. I padded downstairs, not making a sound.

Demon was asleep in his doggy bed by the front door. The pale half moon light poured into the living room as I settled on the couch for a long wait. Demon woke up after a little while and jumped up on the couch with me. He rested his head in my lap and I pet the giant dog, my thoughts pre-occupied with trying to figure out how to escape Dimitri without leaving Castiel. I didn't wanna leave Castiel. I loved him. But every way I looked at it, we ended up separated. One of us possibly dead, the other in Russia. Neither alterative appealed to me, personally.

Castiel's P.O.V.

I woke up to an empty bed. Panic immediately gripped me and all traces of sleep disappeared instantaneously. I threw off the covers and raced down the stairs, only to stop short at the sight that awaited me. Aria and Demon were asleep on the couch. Demon was curled up in the corner and Aria was using him as a pillow. It was one of those things you'd think you'd never see in real life, someone using a dog as a pillow. The panic that had been gripping my heart in icy hands released some of its pressure. I headed into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I was just finishing pouring Pixie's cup when she stumbled in like a zombie. I smirked behind my cup.

"Pixie sweetheart, you've been watching too many zombie flicks. You've got their mannerisms down pat." She glared at me with half opened eyes. She looked really tired, so I decided to lay off the teasing. We went about the morning routine in silence, and the drive to school as well. Aria looked haggard, like she hadn't had a decent amount of sleep in over a week. Come to think of it, she hadn't. I decided that this weekend she was staying home and sleeping, nothing else.

The day passed slowly. Iris and Violette had joined us for lunch, as had the band. Lysander glared at me the whole time, and I had a sudden strike of conscience at missing all those practices… I would make up for it. Somehow. I shook my head to clear it, I had no time to be worrying about that stuff right now. What I needed to do was keep my head in practice long enough to keep the ball out of Dake's team's hands. Aria was in her normal spot on the bleachers. After practice was over I went to the locker room without saying anything to her. I figured she would realize I was going ahead and showering here instead of waiting until I got home. She could take care of herself long enough for me to do that at least. Right?

Aria's P.O.V.

I saw Castiel heading to the locker room as usual and figured I could go ahead and sit in the courtyard, since he would only be a minute or two. I walked into the mid-spring afternoon, sneezing at the sudden change in air. I looked around, no one else was here. The parking lot was strangely empty, even Nathaniel, of all people, was already gone. I didn't think must of it at the time, a big mistake. I leaned against the tree and closed my eyes, relaxing while I waited for Castiel. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my abdomen and a pair of lips began to travel down my neck in a delicious sensation.

"Honestly, someone might be watching! Stop it. I mean it." I complained, but rolled my head to the side to give him better access all the same. He was really good at this. His lips stopped the path down my neck and traveled it back up again, his breath warm on my ear.

"Hello Hannah."

Castiel's P.O.V.

I reached my hand out of the shower to grab my towel, only to find it gone. With a growl I got out. I expected to see my towel laying somewhere around my stuff but it was nowhere to be found. I went in search of it in the main locker room, without a thought at my nakedness, whoever stole my towel ought to have thought of that before taking it. I walked into the main area only to discover Lysander, Dajan, and Dake all standing in a line with their arms crossed, blocking the entrance. With a quick jerk I took my towel from Lysander and turned around to go get dressed when he grabbed my shoulder. I tied the towel around my waist as he spoke.

"Castiel, this can pan out two ways. You can come willingly, or we can take you by force." I jerked my gaze away from the ceiling and back to the trio. Were they serious? What the hell were they talking about? By their looks, they were dead serious. All three of them glared at me, with all the hate of a band that had been abandoned by its creator; a.k.a. me. I turned to go back to where my clothes were and they followed. Had it been anyone else I would have beat them, but this was Lys, Dake and Dajan. Plus there were three of them and one of me. I pulled my shirt over my head and asked,

"Can I at least bring Aria along?" The glare Lysander gave me reminded me of Aria's glares, the kind that tell me go straight to hell.

"Ok, guess I'll take that as a no-" Lysander cut me off.

"Castiel, it's all fine and good that you have finally fallen in love, but the band comes first. That's the commitment we all made when you started the band. Band mates before anyone else. No matter who. And we all abided by that rule. Until now. Until you. Until Aria. I don't know what she's done to you but this is downright ridiculous and I know that if no one else, I'm sick of it. So you're coming to practice today. Alone. Aria can baby sit Demon for the afternoon." I glared at him, and started towards him, planning on pummeling him. There was a resounding thud as something hit me in the back of the head. I saw stars, then suffocating darkness.

* * *

My head hit the roof right after I gained consciousness. I nearly blacked out again from the pain. What the hell was going on? The last thing I remembered was Lysander and the guys cornering me in the locker room. I remember turning around and planning to punch Lysander's lights out and that was it. After that, nothing. I stretched out trying to get my bearings only to find that I couldn't stretch. I was in a small dark confined space. We hit a bump and my head hit the roof again. Was I in a trunk? I was! I was in a trunk! My best friends kidnapped me, tied me up, gagged me and threw me in the back of a car!

_Ugh when I get out of here I am so going to kill them._ I tried to undo the ropes, but it was useless. Dake probably tied them, seaman that he was. With a sigh that was muffled by the gag they had so generously provided, I settled in for a wait. I knew they were taking me to the beach house. At least it was close to both Tolkein and Amoris. If Aria got taken, that's sure to be where Dimitri would go. Tolkein I mean. Wait, what if Aria gets taken?! I'm not there, Dimitri is sure to make a move. Oh god if something happens to her, I'll never forgive myself, or Lysander, since he's the one responsible for my not being with Pixie when I need to be. I was in the middle of panicking when the car rolled to a stop. I heard doors being shut and then someone walking around to the back. With a click the trunk popped open, and I blinked in the sudden light. Dajan and Dake glared down at me. Dajan hauled me out of the trunk with a grunt of effort. Having been set on the ground I held out my hands for someone to untie. Dake looked to Lysander for confirmation before complying.

I was escorted inside before they undid the gag. As soon as it was off I started into them.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?! I missed a couple practices so what! I had more important things to do! Like keep my girlfriend safe!" Lysander rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Safe from what Castiel? Amoris is one of the nicest towns in the world. Everyone knows everybody. Aside from the occasional stray dog what is there to be afraid of?" These idiots! They knew Aria was running for her life, they knew she moved in with me, they knew that she was- wait. They didn't know any of that. Maybe I should tell them; after all 4 body guards are better than one. But what if they don't believe me?

"Tik toc, tik toc, time's running out." Dake piped up. I glared at him and he shrugged. I kept debating with myself while the band set up the equipment. By the time we were ready to start the first song I decided to do my best to convince them.

"Um, guys?" I coughed and got their attention before starting again.

"The reason that I didn't want to leave Aria alone, I mean why I didn't want her by herself I-" I ran my hand over my face. This was not coming out.

"Yah?" Dajan arched an eyebrow. I wanted to punch him. Couldn't he see this was difficult to explain?

"Long story short- Aria is an illegal from Russia that is running away from her abusive fiancé who is all but trying to kill her." There. Said and done. They all looked at each other, then at me, and started laughing. I mean LAUGHING nothing short of an atomic bomb could distract them from laughing at what they believed to be my insanity.

"You guys clearly don't believe me, and I don't blame you. But I didn't believe her at first either. But guys, she has proof. She has pictures and dates and hand written notes and scars… She can't be lying. Its too elaborate of a story to live your life out of. You guys have to believe me. I have to go back. Dimitri, her fiancé, he's here. He broke into her house about two weeks ago so she moved in with me. If you check my house you'll find her stuff right along with mine. But Dimitri is in Amoris. And Aria is in Amoris. Alone and unprotected. Dimitri is going to try to take her. If he does, I will never see her again. Do you understand? He wants her. He thinks he owns her, and he's going to prove it. He might kill her. Look me in the eyes and tell me you think I'm joking or that someone put me up to this. You know I'm terrible at acting and you also know that I wear my emotions for all to see. How could I fake being this serious?" They had stopped laughing, and were looking at me intently.

"Dude, are you serious? That story, that's really melodramatic don't you think?" I shrugged and nodded. I can see why no one would believe me. Lysander gathered himself into his normal contemplative stance. He watched me as I tried to convince Dajan and Dake I wasn't joking. After a while he said,

"Alright Castiel. I admit your story is probable. Actually it makes sense. What none of you know is that I know Aria. She doesn't remember me, but she lived in Texas with me for a while. We were in the same class. She went by Maria down there. And the story matches up. Think about it. When we took her here, to the beach house, she did in fact have scars. Surely you all noticed it as well?" Here everyone nodded. Lysander nodded as well and continued,

"Then I believe we are agreed. Aria is not who she says she is, and is in great peril. We must rescue her I believe. If she has actually been taken anyway. Why not call the house to see if she's not there?" I pulled my phone out to make the call and saw I had a voicemail, from the house. I called the house first though, and there was no answer. Dread crept into my bones as I dialed a second time. No better luck. The weight building in my stomach turned to lead as I listened to the voicemail.

_Castiel, dear friend, I must thank you for taking care of my little Hannah while I was gone. She may be a bit of used goods now that we both have had her, but she'll be alright. That taking her to the concert, stroke of genius. It would have been another two months before I found her, if not for you. Well, we must be on our way, have to get home. Again I thank you, and I have a message from Hannah for you. She says she loves you. She said it with such fervor it was cute, but pathetic all the same. Falling in love with the town bad-boy. Ahh well, childish and sweet as it is, it doesn't matter. I hoped your last goodbye kiss had been a good one, you'll never get another. Goodbye Castiel._

I hurled the phone across the room, barely missing poor Dake's head. He ducked with a shout of

"Shit man what the hell?! Jeez what was it? Did your parents call or something?"

"Worse. Dimitri. He's got Aria. He left me a voicemail saying as much. If you can find where the phone bounced to you can listen to it. But I really think I'm gonna go ahead and go now." I started towards the door when Dake grabbed my shoulder.

"Hey don't you think four heads are better than one? We need a battle plan Castiel. We're here for your use, we're your band. You know we got your back. So just tell us where you want us."

I took a deep breath and looked them each in the eye. Three pairs of steadfast friendship peered back at me. I sighed in relief and grabbed a pen and paper from the kitchen. I kneeled down at the coffee table and got to work.

"Ok, so this is Tolkein, where they'll probably be. No other cities around here and it's got an airport. So here's what we're gonna do…"


	29. Just Breathe

Aria's P.O.V.

I lifted my head and blinked groggily. I didn't remember anything. I had been waiting for Castiel… memories roared back. I had been standing there waiting for Cassy and someone had come up behind me. Embracing me, he had begun to kiss down my neck, something that Castiel did often, hence my not reacting how I should have. But Castiel never called me Hannah. And he didn't speak in Russian. And his voice didn't send chills of dread to my very core.

But Dimitri's did.

I tried to calm my raging heart beat and my ragged breathing as I swallowed the lump of terror in my throat. I had been found. It was that simple. My escape was unlikely, if not impossible. As soon as he realized I was awake, I would begin to pay for the last three years of running away. I had no idea where I was. I tried to remain as still as possible, no way would I be up and trying to figure out where I was if he believed me unconscious. Let Dimitri think that as long as possible. I had to get away. Duh. I took an inventory of myself. All my clothes were still on, but my shoes had been taken away. There wasn't anything in my pockets, and my backpack was no where to be seen. My hair was still in its ponytail, and I seemed untouched. One problem: I was tied up. My wrists bound behind my back, and my ankles tied together to prevent running. Great. Dimitri must have been watching me, and seen the change in my breathing upon waking up, there was no other way he would have known I wasn't unconscious. He came over to the bed (forgot to mention that my hands were also tied to the bed post), and dragged a finger down my jaw, dipping to the collar bone as he said,

"Come on Hannah, I know you're awake. Let me see those beautiful eyes. Come on now, yes there we go." I had complied without resistance, had I not obeyed, he would have hit me, and my eyes would have flown open. I looked at him with distrust. Something was going on here. Why hadn't he hurt me yet? What was he planning? Too long silence followed, as he intently stared at my face. His large hand grasped my chin in a painful grip, tilting it from side to side to get a better look.

"Well you haven't changed much. Blonde is a good look for you. You should have done it sooner…" he trailed off, still looking at me. My breathing hitched and heart rate sped up with each passing second. Every second he did nothing was another second contributing to the rage behind the blow that was sure to come. He raised his hand, and I squeezed my eyes shut in expectation of a blow, but none ever came. Instead he placed his hand on my head, and stroked the length of me. Talk about creepy.

"You have no idea how worried I was Hannah. The thought of someone running off with my wife-"

"I AM NOT YOUR WIFE AND I NEVER WILL BE!" I shouted in Russian as rage boiled in the words, and I shook with fury. Rage gave me strength, however stupid reacting might prove, I was not going down without a fight. I tried to kick out, but that doesn't work very well when you're tied up. The blow I had been expecting from earlier finally appeared, and I felt my lip split with the impact. The sweet coppery-metal taste filled my mouth as my lip gushed a miniature river of red water. Dimitri grabbed the top of my head and pulled my hair down, forcing me to look up at him. His face was centimeters from mine and I tried to pull away, only to have my hair pulled harder. I winced and gave up for now, no point in wasting vital energy.

"You are mine, Hannah. You are my wife, even if you didn't quite make the ceremony. You are mine, and no matter what you do, how far or how long you run, I will find you, and I will make you mine. Every time you run away, I will find you. But first you would have to get away again. And I plan for that to never happen again. But if it does, well then Hannah, I hope that you have a higher tolerance for pain than we think. But for now, I have you. You, dearest Hannah, are clever. Becoming someone new in every town, not having an evident moving pattern, never growing attached, until that red-head anyway, you did well. Had your idiotic lover not taken you to that concert, I doubt I would have found you so quickly. I do hope he realizes how much he's helped." I bit my already bleeding lip to keep it from trembling, and squeezed my eyes shut against the acid flow of unshed tears. One thought reverberated through my head.

_Castiel_

Over and over and over. _Castiel. Castiel. Castiel._ I would never see him again if I didn't get away. I would never get to tell him that I loved him again. Dimitri was going to prove to me how I was his and then we were on the next flight to St. Petersburg. I knew exactly how this would work. I would have one chance to get away. When Dimitri was pulling his own clothes off, that would be the only time he wasn't on top of me or touching me. Dimitri laughed at the pain in my eyes at the mentioning of Castiel.

"Did you think I would really let some cherry headed punk keep me from taking you back? He was a simple matter of inconvenience. He was going to have a wreck on Monday, if I hadn't managed to get you before then. No, Hannah, you ought to know by now that I get what I want when I want it. And right now I want you." He crushed his mouth to mine, his tongue pressing against my split lip. I cried out in pain, opening my mouth to him. His tongue swept inside with expert movements, and he laughed against my lips. He pulled away and licked my blood from his lips, savoring it by look in his eyes. He reached down and untied my ankles, my heart pounding even faster in my chest. I had to remind myself that I had to have my ankles untied to run away. Dimitri trailed his fingers gently on my ankle and traveled up, stopped ¾ up my thigh, teasing me. My breath hitched and he chuckled.

"Have your tastes changed? Last time we did this you hated my teasing. Was it Castiel? Did he warm you up for me these past couple weeks?" I glared in response, keeping my temper in check. I needed to keep a clear head if I was going to get away. I knew how I would have to play this. I was going to have to make him think that my tastes HAD changed and I would have to act the part. His hands continued up, going places that I believe only Castiel should have access to. In according to the part I played, I gasped and arched my back. Dimitri chuckled then began trailing his lips down my neck and across my collar bone, his blonde hair brushing the collar on my shirt. His hands left their task and came to pull my shirt off. This was the tricky part. I needed to get to the knife in my bra without him seeing it. If he was impatient then he might take the bra off himself. I needed him to wait, and begin to undress himself first, that way I would have a clear shot. He untied my wrists so that he could get the shirt over my head. Before I could blink, he had me lying on my back beneath him, my legs pinned beneath his. He ripped the shirt off me and started to pull on my shorts, his lips on mine the whole while. Ok, calm down Aria, just calm down. He can get the clothes off, you just need him to pull away long enough to get the switchblade. He finally did pull away, his breathing ragged. I doubt he was worried about my running at this point, because he got off of me long enough to go for his belt. This was my chance.

I reached into the cup and grabbed the closed blade. I flipped it open and carefully placed it beneath my leg, I didn't have enough time to make a move, I would have to wait for him to get on top of me again. He did soon enough, completely bare, and I was next by the heat in his eyes. His hands drew towards the straps of my bra and I pulled the knife out from under me. With one well placed jab I nailed him in the shoulder and dragged down with all my might. His tormented scream of pain gave me goose bumps, half cold chill at the scream, the other half a sick pleasure at finally getting to do to him what he had done to me so many times before. But I wasn't here to torture him, I was trying to get away. Lightning quick, I jumped off the bed and grabbed my shorts and shirt. Without a backward glance I ran from the room. I vaulted down the closest stair case and slipped in the men's bathroom on the 5th floor of wherever I was. I doubted Dimitri would look there, if he was looking yet. I pulled on my shorts and shirt then inched my head out the door. Coast was clear, I made a run for the stairs. Once on the first floor I ran through the lobby of what looked like a hotel and out into the street. I had no idea where I was. Without stopping to breath I turned left. I ran down the street crowded with shoppers. Good, a shopping district, that means I can drop in somewhere and steal a change of clothes. Don't look at me that way, I'm Russian! I took a quick look around and slipped inside a huge Macy's outlet. Once inside I grabbed the nearest pair of tight fitting jeans and hoodie I could find. The jeans were because he wouldn't be looking for them, he would still be looking for shorts. I doubt he realized that I wasn't so desperate to run as to not disguise myself.

I made my way out of Macy's and cautiously made my way down the strip. I didn't see him so I decided to duck in somewhere and rest a few minutes. Now to find somewhere suitable… ahh perfect! Victoria's Secret. The least likely place Dimitri would stop and look at. I know that probably seems contradictory considering technically he's a rapist and all that but he would much rather see me in lingerie than some random woman. But anyways, VS. I ducked in and moved towards the back exit. If I could get to the other side then it would open onto another street and- hey wait a second, is that… Dake? It sure looks like him… Tall, buff, blonde, tattoos, girl in underwear draped over his arm… I wonder…

"Dake!" He turned around and then he saw me. He quickly shook the girl on his arm off and started towards me.

'"Aria! Thank God! I found you! Well, technically, you found me, but that's beside the point! Castiel and the others are so worried, we thought we'd never see you again and and and- hey wait a sec!" He gasped.

"You're here! I found you! Oh Castiel will kill me if I don't tell him right now since the plan was to try and find you so yah just a second here…" He dug around in his pocket for a minute then pulled out his phone. After a quick dial and a pause he had Castiel on the line. Dakota looked at me and smiled as he talked.

"Hey yah, you'll never guess who I ran into." He handed me the phone with a wink. I smiled really big and took the phone. Even in a life-and-death situation, Dake and I play a prank on Castiel. I am the worst girlfriend ever; I get kidnapped, escape, have my boyfriend worried sick, run into his friend, use the friend's phone and go;

"Hey babe. Did ya miss me?"

"Aria is that you?! Oh thank god Dake found you! He, oh Pixie you have no idea how worried I was, but now Dake found you and-" the phone went quiet for a second.

"Dake found you. Babe, hand the phone back to Dakota will you?" I grinned, this was gonna be good, and poor Dake on the receiving end. Oh well joke's on him.

"sure thing. Oh and Cassy? Next time you want to take a shower, anywhere, let me know first." I handed the phone back to Dake, who was now blushing at a comment not even made for him. Haha. But anyways back to poor Dake. As soon as he said 'hello' I could hear every word Castiel said. It sounded a lot like

"(%$# *(dfhaieu(*a::43gls7uy6pq;anv}+)_(*&^% ^&&)_(y08w3%$#alkyr89q89-9#%4toh6njag[df'q4t$*&( Q%^$*ION! *^*4_)"kf"f{"{)iepgtQ#!"

_*Please note: Censored for all audiences._

Castiel yelled every cuss word you've ever heard at Dake for calling him the second that he found me and for playing a joke on him the whole while. He was still yelling when I took the phone from Dake's outstretched arm.

"AND HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK THAT IT-"

"Cherry Blossom."

"NOTHING ELSE EVEN- huh?"

"Ok, good I have your attention. Listen very carefully. We need to find you before Dimitri finds me again ok? Tell us exactly where you are and we will meet you there. On your way, call Lysander and Dajan and tell them to meet us too. Then we'll go back to Amoris and report this whole mess to the police. But first we meet up. Got it?"

"Yah. I got it. We'll meet at Grandma's Ice Cream on the corner of 4th and Fountain ok? Bye."

"Castiel. One more thing."

"Yah?"

"Love you." I hung up and handed Dake his phone, then told him where we needed to go. He turned and started in the direction of where we needed to go, grabbing my hand in the process. He looked down at me as we walked.

"Hope you don't get the wrong idea, I just don't want you getting lost again. Please explain that to Castiel when we see him, I would rather go surfing this weekend than lie in bed because I got my ass kicked." I laughed and walked on, clinging to Dake as the crowds try to pull us apart. We made it ok though, and Grandma's came into sight pretty quickly. But my focus wasn't on the shop, my focus was on the flame head standing near the door. My heart sped up and I started running, pulling Dake along with me, him shouting at me to slow down. I didn't hear him though, I had my focus elsewhere. Straight ahead.

I dodged people and shouted,

"Castiel!" He turned towards the sound of my voice and his face lit up in relief and joy. I let go of Dakota's hand and ran for Castiel. He caught me in an embrace and twirled me around, then kissed me. After a moment I pushed away and placed my hand on his cheek, him turning his head into the movement, his hand reaching up and grabbing my own.

"Ahem. Ahem. AHEM. Street corner guys. Not here ok?" Dake piped up. Castiel's eyes went from soft grey to hard steel as he was about to let into him when I put pressure on the hand that rested on his hand. He glanced down at me and was about to say something but I cut him off.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he is right. Come on we need to go anyway. Where are Dajan and Lysander?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before pulling his phone out. He made a quick call and agreed to meet at 8th and North, since that was closer to the car (which was in a parking garage in a not so great part of the neighborhood). We began walking, Castiel holding me so close it was difficult to walk. And his grip on my waist was suffocating. Dake had walked ahead a bit so we could have a little privacy, or at least as much as one can have on a crowded street corner. Castiel bent his head towards me and brushed my lips gently. His eyes said everything he wanted to, so he didn't bother with words when his mouth could be used for so many other things.

"You're safe now Pixie. I promise." I pulled away from him as much as he would let me. I stared at him for a moment, and chose my words carefully.

"Castiel, he… Dimitri's still in the same city as me. I won't be safe as long as he's after me, which means that I have to keep moving. As much as I want to stay, you… You can't protect me Castiel. You just can't." I teared up and tried to pull away but instead I was crushed against him. He mumbled into my hair,

"I know I can't protect you from him. But I'm going to try anyway. You are mine, and I'm not overly fond of loosing my stuff. I love you and there is no way your past is separating us. None. So stop worrying. I'll take care of him. I have absolutely no idea how, but I will. I swear." I wrapped my arms around him too, and we stood there in the mostly deserted street. We had reached the parking garage, and Dake had already gone inside. I stood on tip-toe and kissed him real quick then took his hand, and led him inside.

"What floor did you park on?"

"I'm not really sure, I think it was-"

A figure stepped from the shadows. Dimitri's left side oozed blood through his white t-shirt, but he stood straight and tall, and held the same knife that cut both of us in his hand. I had only seen that look on his face once, when he found out that I had told my father about what he had done. I saw that look when he decided to take someone's life. Dread, fear, and hatred dragged at my insides as he spoke.

"Hello Castiel, Hannah. I must say it's good to meet you Mr. Stone. You brought my little Hannah back, and I am quite grateful. Now if you will just hand her over-"

"Fuck no."

"Never mind that then. Let me put it this way; give me the girl and I will kill you quickly. Don't, and I will get her, rape her in front of you, beat her in front of you, then kill you slowly. Your choice." His thick Russian accent make the words even more threatening, but Castiel didn't back down. He pushed me behind him and met the challenge.

"How about an honest fight? Me against you, no weapons, just fist vs. fist?" Dimitri tapped the blade against his chin while he contemplated.

"Hmm… no. I think not. I've already been wounded, and it hurts quite badly. Considering the amount of blood I've lost, and the fact I can barely move this arm, it seems a bit of an unfair fight. So just hand her over." He started towards us and I could feel Castiel tense up. He leaned down and kissed me hard and quick.

"As soon as I hit him, you run up and steal a car. You get away as fast as you can. I'll be fine. GO!" he turned and punched Dimitri in the stomach as I turned and ran as fast as I could.


	30. Where's MY Happy Ending?

Castiel's P.O.V.

The bastard attacked me with my back turned. That's a low blow. He swung at my head and I dodged, going for his injured side. He danced away easily though, and landed a blow to the side of my head. I saw stars but kept fighting. He tried to end the fight and run after Aria more than once, but I kept him occupied as long as I could. He managed to knock me to the ground once though, and ran in the direction Aria went. I jumped up and ran after him. He had nearly reached Aria, who was trying to break into a car, when a gun shot rang out. I froze on instinct, and Aria did too. We both turned in the direction of the sound, and saw Dimitri laying face down on the floor with a bullet through his temple. Lysander walked out the shadows and blew smoke off the gun. Aria and I stared at him wide eyed as he walked over and shot the body twice in the heart just to make sure Dimitri wouldn't jump up and go after Pixie again. He looked at me, then Aria and shrugged.

"What? I told you guys I grew up in Texas." Aria's gaze caught mine, her confusion mirroring my own. We couldn't help but laugh. The entire enormity of the situation resolved by a small amount of gun powder in a metal casing. But the fact that it came from Lysander, and the fact that he didn't think a thing about what he had done, dismissing it on the basis of how he was raised. It was really funny. Dajan popped up from behind a car and said,

"Hey isn't this the part where you two run into each other's arms and confess your undying love for one another?" He had a point. I walked over to the shaking Aria and pulled her into my arms.

"He's… he's gone… just like that… gone… I'll never have to run again. I can go anywhere I want. Castiel, I'm free. I'm free. I'M FREE!"

Her smile held the brightness of the sun and she twirled around. She laughed out of pure joy and ran over to Lysnader. Throwing her arms around him she kissed him full on. His look of shock was quite priceless, but why the hell did she think she could kiss my best friend?

"Thank you Lysander. Thank you with all my heart. You have lifted what was the equivalent of a curse." She hugged him again, then let go. Aria looked around, and he gaze caught mine. Never had I seen her look so calm, so relieved. I started towards her and then stopped mid-stride. I looked around. Dajan, Lysander, Aria….

"Where's Dake?" Aria's eyes widened, and her hands flew to her face.

"Oh my gosh, if he got hurt, we have to help him if something happened its all my fault and and and and and and and and-"

"Jeez, can you guys stop yelling? I have a serious head ache from getting whacked in the head…" Dake came up from behind Lysander, rubbing his head. It had a huge bump on it. Aria gasped and ran over to him, pulling his head down for inspection.

"Hey! That hurts! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" She gingerly touched the bump on his head and he bucked.

"Hold still Dakota Jay! And yes I know your full name, don't be so surprised. I rival Castiel when it comes to breaking and entering. But back to your head. It's just a bump you'll be fine, I promise."

"But it hurts." She rolled her eyes at him, then kissed his head.

"There, mommy made it better," she said as she rolled her eyes. She let go of his head and walked over to me. I had just pulled her into my embrace when Dajan walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. With a sigh she pulled away from me slightly.

"Yes Dajan?"

"I didn't get a kiss." He said with a smirk. Aria's eyes widened as she stared at him. I pushed between the two of them and held Aria behind me. I leveled Dajan with a glare that contained all the fires of hell.

"She was rewarding courageous conduct. Lysander shot a man, Dake got knocked out trying to protect her, and you hid behind a car. Not exactly cause for a reward." Dajan glared back at me and Aria snorted a laugh. I whirled on her. Grabbing her shoulders I held her still.

"And don't think you're going to get away with freely kissing my friends. You're mine, and I hate sharing." Her eyes widened. I leaned in really close, then stopped centimeters from her lips. She cracked an eye, both of which she had closed in anticipation, and arched an eyebrow. I smirked at her.

"If I kiss you here, I won't stop. And considering where here is…" I trailed off and gestured around us. Dake, Dajan, and Lys were all watching with avid interest. I whispered in her ear,

"Don't worry, I promise I'll make up for it later. With interest." I pulled away and winked at her, and heard Dake and Dajan both groan simultaneously. I looked at them and arched an eyebrow. Both blushed and Lysander explained for them.

"I do believe they're both hopeless romantics at heart and both really want to see a happy ending. Plus, they're teenage guys with access to the internet. They'r porn addicts and the best porn is watching your best friend and his girlfriend, right guys?" Lysander smiled sadistically at the two, who were both blushing profusely and trying to redeem themselves against his accusations. I looked at Pixie, then at the guys. Looking straight into Aria's beautiful eyes, I predicted the future.

"Personally, I think we got a happy ending. But if its not quite good enough, give me a bedroom with a lock and a couple of hours and I'm sure we can make it better." Everyone blushed, and I just shrugged and grabbed Aria. Pulling her into step next to me I turned towards where we had parked the car. We walked slightly ahead of the band. Pixie looked up from her place beside me and stated,

"Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly good ending with a perverted comment."


End file.
